The Pre-Raphaelites

This late 19C Romantic offshoot offered a, well, a romanticized reinterpretation of the Medieval style

The Pre-Rapahelites were a "Brotherhood" of painters, operating circa 1848–1870s, who declared art had gone all wrong in the Reanissance—particularly starting with the Italian Renaissance master Raphael—and therefore set about to emulate the style of earlier 15th century Italian painters in the late Gothic mold.

However, the Pre-Raphaelitess symbolically-imbued, sweetly idealized, hyper-realistic works bear little resemblence to actual late Medieval painting.

Most Pre-Raphaelite art looks more like something that might grace the cover of a romantic fantasy novel.

Thee Pre-Raphaelites tended to favor scenes from Romantic poetry, Shakespeare, and the Bible.

There were seven founders of the movment, and many followers, but the most important Pre-Raphaelite artists were Dante Rossetti, William Hunt, and John Millais.

You can see work by all three at:

• Tate Britain, London
• Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
• Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
• City Art Gallery, Manchester