links

• The Pre-Raphaelite Art of the Victorian Novel - Sophia Andres
• Christ in the House of His Parents
• The Germ: Thoughts towards Nature in Poetry, Literature and Art
• John Ruskin, Letter in defence of the PRB, 26th May 1851.

phrases to use somewhere

• a clear departure from the dire, brooding palette of other artists of the period

paragraphs

• Objectively, Millais' painting can be seen to exhibit gorgeous realism and attention to detail, depicting the family of Christ in a very humanising, down-to-earth manner that was not often explored in other contemporary religious paintings, which often lacked dimension, literally and figuratively, as a great deal of sacred art can be considered quite 'flat' in both the two-dimensional style and static moral depictions of religious figures.
• 'To humanise Christ, to equate the Son of God to that of Man is to blasphemise Him, (is akin to blasphemy)' insinuate the critics of the era. It was Millais' indiscriminate, fine attention to detail and his refusal to waver from the mimensis of Nature to make his art more digestible that upset the public so.
• 'Christ in the House of His Parents' is, I believe, the (hallmark, epitome, prime example) paragon of the ideals that the short-lived Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood stood for. Its [photorealism in oil on canvas] excellently balances the dedication to Nature as well as preserving the dreamlike, Romantic quality which makes so much Pre-Raphaelite art appear downright enchanting.
• The Brotherhood sought to foster a link between the Realists' dedication to and the ideals of Romanticism - to ground the lofty, glorious aesthetics and subject matter of the Medeival period [etc...] in some of the canon, rational, and more 'true-to-life' styles characteristic of Realism.
• As abruptly as the Brotherhood began during a single meeting in Millais' parents' house in 1848, so too did the group meet its untimely end, having virtually dissolved by the year 1853, a mere half-decade after its conception. The impact of the Brotherhood on the art world far outlived the group itself and its unceremonious dissolution, giving way to the longer-lived Pre-Raphaelite Movement.
• The painting challenged directly the very socioeconomic norms that lended comfort and security to the upper-middle classes.

quotes

• Ralph Wornum / Art Journal: "The physical ideal alone can harmonize with he spiritual ideal: in Art, whatever it may be in Nature in its present condition, the most beautiful soul must have the most beautiful body."
  • Directly in reference to Millais' choice of his... apparently homely sister-in-law to pose for Mary's figure in 'Christ'...
  • Sophia Andres / PreRaph Art/Vic Novel: "Wornum's categorical statements, "the most beautiful soul must have the most beautiful body" and "sentiment and physical baseness are essentially antagonistic" reveal hierarchical gender and class biases that exclude a majority of people from the provoleges enjoyed by the selected few who meet contemporary standards of beauty."
• The Exhibition of the Royal Academy. Third Notice: "with no conceivable omission of misery, of dirt, of even disease, all finished with the same loathsome minuteness".
• Charles Dickens: "...so hideous in her ugliness that ... she would stand out from the rest of the company as a Monster, in the vilest cabaret in France, or the lowest gin-shop in England."