JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS AND THE “PRE-RAPHAELITE BROTHERHOOD”: THE FIRST AVANT-GARDE MOVEMENT IN ART

Abstract

: In order to show the way in which the first avant-garde trend was founded in art, my aim is to outline one of the greatest masterpieces that the Pre-Raphaelite movement provided the humanity culture with, particularly through its representative painter John Everett Millais (1829-1896). The famous and much-discussed painting by Millais, Christ in his parents' house(1850) is a unique biblical scene: The Holy Family in the carpentry workshop of Saint Joseph (Fig.1). The painting was extremely controversial because, at its first exhibition, it generated many negative interpretations in various magazines, most notably being that of the writer Charles Dickens. Criticism, however, anticipates and prepares the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood’s obscure notoriety, bringing major contributions as regards the debate about realism in art.

Keywords

• Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
• Hermeneutic Movement
• Mystagogical Analysis
• Iconographic Representations
• Critic Art