In 1848 seven inexperienced young artists banded together to form the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Together they created a novel style that bewildered its first audiences and retains the power to shock, as well as fascinate a century and a half later. This book explores the collaborative practices of the Brothers and their close associates, and accords a major role to the women artists of the Pre-Raphaelite circle. By working together, the Pre-Raphaelites constituted one of the first and most distinctive group movements in modern art, comparable to the Impressionists and latter movements in France.

This lavishly illustrated book concentrates more closely on the visual impact of the Pre-Raphaelite art than any previous study. The materials, techniques, and working practices of the artists are analysed, using many close up details, to ask how Pre-Raphaelite pictures compel the viewer to see more, and more vividly, than traditional painting styles. This intensity of observation reinforces the distinctive subject matter of the pictures: the natural world and the human model, gender identities and sexual relationships, debates on politics, science and religion.

The first publication on this scale since the Tate Pre-Raphaelite catalogue of 1984. The Art of the Pre-Raphaelites incorporates the rapidly expanding research of recent years to produce a new assessment of the movement’s importance in modern art. With 170 colour and 35 black and white illustrations.