The Samuel & Mary R. Bancroft Collection of Pre-Raphaelite Art

Curriculum Guide

2301 Kentmere Parkway | Wilmington, DE 19806 | 302.571.9590 | www.delart.org | www.preraph.org

Above: Water Willow. Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Samuel and Mary R. Bancroft Memorial. 1935.

Table of Contents How to use these materials 2 Introduction: The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood 3 Delaware Art Collector: Samuel Bancroft, Jr. 4 Art in Context 5

The Victorian Age & the Industrial Revolution Literary Influences 6 William Morris and the Arts & Crafts Movement 7 The Aesthetic Movement 8 Artists and Art 9

John Everett Millais Dante Gabriel Rossetti William Holman Hunt Edward Burne-Jones Marie Spartali Stillman

Curriculum Connections: Ideas for Extending Learning 14 Resources 16 The P.R.B.’s “List of Immortals” 18 Glossary 19 Delaware Art Museum Information 20 Acknowledgments 21

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How to use these materials These materials are designed to provide teachers and group leaders with an overview of the Delaware Art Museum’s Samuel and Mary R. Bancroft, Jr. Collection of English Pre-Raphaelite Art. This information can be taught before and/or after a visit to a museum. Please adapt the information and activities to the grade level, ability, and learning styles of your students. These materials may be reproduced for educational purposes. Objectives:

• To understand what the term “Pre-Raphaelite” means and why the Pre-Raphaelite

Brotherhood was formed • To learn about Wilmington art collector Samuel Bancroft, Jr., and what the Bancroft

Collection meant to the formation of the Delaware Art Museum

• To learn about Victorian England and the Industrial Revolution

• To learn about the Pre-Raphaelites’ use of literary sources for inspiration

• To understand the impact of the Pre-Raphaelite Movement had on succeeding art styles and movements

• To perceive and interpret visual elements

• To understand the role of narrative in creating works of art

• To understand how artwork reflects the society for which it was created

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Introduction: The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood Seven young idealists formed the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in England as a reaction against what the saw as the stylistic pretenses and unworthy subject matter of the art of their day. They created an entirely new style of painting that looked back to the romance of medieval chivalry and also documented contemporary Victorian social themes. In 1848, the British art world was dominated by the traditions of the Royal Academy, who looked to the Renaissance for inspiration. Unhappy with what they saw as the Academy’s rigid and unchanging traditions, three young artists, John Everett Millais, William Holman Hunt, and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, came together in London to create their own style. They highly admired and drew inspiration from the Middle Ages, specifically those who came before Raphael, and therefore called themselves the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Soon after, William Michael Rossetti, James Collison, Thomas Woolner, and Frederick George Stevens joined the brotherhood, bringing their total to seven members. The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood favored a style focused on disciplined study, the precise depiction of nature, and the use of bright colors. Tired with the subject matter used by the Royal Academy, the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood turned to contemporary society and literature for themes. Living during the Industrial Revolution, they were witness to not only the technical advances it brought, but also the harsh social conditions that developed. They drew inspiration from an array of literary sources including Arthurian legends, Dante, Chaucer, Shakespeare, the Bible, Ancient Mythology, and the poetry of Byron, Keats, and Tennyson. They combined these two sources of influence, creating subject matter that depicted Victorian social conditions in combination with the ideals of medieval chivalry. William Michael Rossetti defined the aims of the Brotherhood as follows:

1.) to have genuine ideas to express 2.) to study nature attentively, so as to know how to express them 3.) to sympathize with what is direct and serious and heartfelt in previous art, to the

exclusion of what is conventional and self-parading and learned by rote 4.) to produce thoroughly good pictures

Contemporary society’s response to the artwork varied from contempt to admiration. The controversial nature of these pictures resulted in repeated and often vicious criticism from their contemporaries, including Charles Dickens. However, the celebrated critic John Ruskin championed their cause and credited them with creating a “school of art nobler than the world has seen for 300 years.” By the time the brotherhood came to its dissolution in 1853, they had made a mark on the art world. While the Royal Academy continued, artists that followed drew inspiration from the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. One such example is William Morris, who led the Arts and Crafts movement. Embracing many of the brotherhood's ideals, the movement focused on handcrafted objects that created a close relationship between literature and the visual arts.

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Delaware Art Collector: Samuel Bancroft, Jr. Wilmington industrialist Samuel Bancroft, Jr., was on business in Manchester, England, in 1880 when he was first smitten by Pre-Raphaelite art. It was at the home of a friend that he saw a painting by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, the painter and poet who was at the center of the Pre-Raphaelite movement. Then and there Bancroft decided that he would one day own some of Rossetti’s work. For the next 10 years, the demands of the family textile business prevented him from devoting time and energy to building his collection. But he prepared himself by acquiring a large collection of photographs and books by and about the Pre-Raphaelites, developing a strong affinity for their art, ideas, and literature. Bancroft bought his first Rossetti oil painting, Water Willow, in 1890, going on to pursue his passion assiduously and thoroughly, until he had a collection that was one of the largest in the United States. Bancroft exhibited his collection at the Art Club of Philadelphia, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and the Century Club in New York City. At his death in 1915 the collection hung in his home, Rockford, where his family kept it intact. The Delaware Art Museum’s collection of Pre-Raphaelite art was donated by Samuel Bancroft’s family in 1935 to what was then the Wilmington Society of Fine Arts (the predecessor to the Delaware Art Museum). By this time, the collection had gained an international reputation as one of the finest and best documented of its kind. Along with the art works, the family donated land for the museum. Today the Samuel and Mary R. Bancroft, Jr. Collection, enhanced by notable additions over the years, consists of approximately 150 paintings, prints, drawings, and decorative arts. The diverse works illustrate well the hauntingly beautiful women, rich colors, and extraordinary attention to detail for which Pre-Raphaelite paintings are known, and they are a testament to Bancroft’s connoisseurship, his passion for beauty, and his true collector’s vision.

Portrait of Samuel Bancroft Jr., c. 1909 Winifred Sandys (1875-1944) Watercolor on ivory Samuel and Mary R. Bancroft Memorial, 1935

Drawing Room, Rockford Samuel and Mary R. Bancroft, Jr. Pre-Raphaelite Manuscript Collection Helen Farr Sloan Library, Delaware Art Museum

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Art in Context

The Victorian Age and the Industrial Revolution Victoria became queen of Great Britain in 1837. This period of Victoria’s reign, which lasted until 1901 and is the longest in English history, is referred to as the Victorian Age. During the Victorian Age, great economic, cultural, industrial, and political changes occurred in Britain. It was under her reign that the British Empire reached its height, taking up about 25 percent of the earth’s land. Industry and trade expanded with developments made on the steam engine and the increased amount of railroads and canals. This expansion of industry and trade is known as the Industrial Revolution, which was brought about by further developments made on James Watt’s invention of the steam engine. The steam engine provided a faster, stronger power source that was not dependent on natural sources such as water. This allowed for more of a choice as to where to build factories. Cities and towns became the popular location. During the Industrial Revolution, extensive mechanization shifted production from home craftsmanship to large-scale factory manufacturing, causing masses of people to move from farms and villages to the cities where factory jobs were available. Previously, each item was produced by a skilled individual or in a small workshop; industrialization emphasized standardization and conformity to achieve mass production. Working class families, once accustomed to the countryside, now lived in crowded quarters in cities made dirty and unhealthy by the pollution put out by the factories they now depended on for their livelihood.

The working and living conditions in the city provoked much comment. Charles Dickens wrote some of the best known criticisms of the terrible conditions he saw around him in his novels Oliver Twist and Bleak House. His images show very clearly how difficult and dangerous life in the city could be.

The Pre-Raphaelites were very concerned with the changes in society brought about by the increasing mechanization of the Industrial Revolution. They questioned the effects that city life, factory work, and an increased distancing from nature were having on people around them. In Found, Dante Gabriel Rossetti was interested in painting a subject which reflected the world in which he lived. This work represents a young woman who has come to the city to find work. Unable to make an honorable living, she has turned to prostitution, a social problem resulting from England’s transition from a rural to metropolitan culture. During this time many young women turned to prostitution to survive.

Found, designed 1865; begun 1869 (unfinished) Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882) Oil on canvas Samuel and Mary R. Bancroft Memorial

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Literary Influences All of the Pre-Raphaelites shared an intense love of literature. When painters in the group departed from contemporary subject matter, they often turned to modern British literature for inspiration. William Shakespeare, John Keats, Lord Byron, and Alfred Tennyson as well as legends and folk tales were among the sources the artists favored. One of the first endeavors of the young P.R.B. was the The Germ, a periodical in which literature and imagery were combined. In 1848, Rossetti and Hunt drew up a “List of Immortals” —a document listing personages from history through the present day (whom they graded by a star system) for whom they held the greatest respect. The list was made up in large part of writers including those drawn from the past as well as the present. Their interest in literature was extensive, including the Bible, Shakespeare, Chaucer and Dante. But they were also enthusiastic about contemporary literature, particularly the work of Alfred Tennyson, John Keats, and Percy Bysshe Shelley. Many of their painted subjects were drawn from their favorite texts.

Many were writers or poets themselves, Dante Gabriel Rossetti in particular. In 1848, Rossetti began creating what is now called a “double work of art” while working on one of his first major paintings. As he worked on this painting, Rossetti began producing a second work of art—a poem inspired by the image he was creating.

Throughout his career, Rossetti produced approximately 30 double works. Sometimes Rossetti would start the poem first, while other times he would begin with a painting. The paired image and text work together to offer a stronger understanding of Rossetti’s vision for both works.

In the painting to the left, Rossetti depicts Mnemosyne, the female Titan from Greek mythology. Mnemosyne is the goddess of memory and the mother of the muses, nine daughters who represent different aspects of the arts and humanities. As is always the case in Rossetti’s double works, the inscription on the frame reinforces the theme conveyed in the image:

Thou fillst’ from the winged chalice of the soul Thy lamp, O Memory, fire-winged to its goal

Mnemosyne, 1881 Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882) Oil on canvas Samuel and Mary R. Bancroft Memorial, 1935

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William Morris and the Arts and Crafts Movement John Ruskin, an artist and very influential art critic of the 19th century, praised the work of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and encouraged their detailed descriptions of the natural world, to “go to Nature…rejecting nothing, selecting nothing, scorning nothing.” Ruskin also strongly advocated turning back the clock to medieval times, when the worker was a craftsman and contributed to the quality of life in his community. Inspired by the writings of Ruskin and the art of the Pre-Raphaelites, William Morris, an artist and writer, similarly urged a return to medieval traditions of artistic design and craftsmanship. Knowledgeable and enthusiastic about medieval art, Morris had great interest in designing useful objects in a medieval style even before meeting Dante Gabriel Rossetti in 1856. Morris and Edward Burne-Jones, young students at Oxford University at the time, were so excited upon viewing Rossetti’s art that they switched their studies from divinity to art, Morris to architecture, and Burne-Jones to painting. Founding Morris & Company in 1861, hiring artists like Burne-Jones, Rossetti, and Ford Madox Brown as designers, and training fabricators to a high level of craftsmanship, Morris revolutionized interior design and reintroduced the concept of the artist-craftsman and the dignity of work. Morris & Company employed the designs of artists in the production of a variety of decorative and useful objects; stained glass, jewelry, wall paper, and ceramics. This banding together of designers and artist/craftsmen had a medieval flavor to it, and the long range influence of Morris & Company can be seen in the Arts and Crafts Movement that flourished in both England and the United States at the turn of the century. Reacting against the effects of industrialization caused by the industrial revolution, the Arts and Crafts Movement celebrated individual design and craftsmanship. At the end of 1856, Morris and Burne-Jones rented a flat at Red Lion Square, London, which was formerly occupied by Rossetti. Morris ordered a suite of furniture from a local cabinetmaker, which were based on his own designs. Included in the order was a pair of chairs, which he and Rossetti decorated together. Such collaboration was an aspect of the medieval guild system that both artists admired and wished to imitate. The Arming of a Knight chair (seen above) was probably not decorated until early 1857. The subject matter is unclear, although it may be based on Morris’ poem “Sir Galahad: A Christmas Mystery” (1858). The scene depicts a medieval woman bestowing her glove upon a knight.

The Arming of a Knight, 1857-58 William Morris (1834-1896) Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882) Painted deal, leather, and nails Acquired through the bequest of Dora Wright Anderson and the F.V. duPont Acquisition Fund, 1997

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The Aesthetic Movement As the original artists of the P.R.B. matured, subtle stylistic changes began to appear in their work. Although they still held many of the views which had originally brought them together, each became more confident in expressing their individuality. In addition, the circle expanded. By the late 1860s, new artists, including Edward Burne-Jones, Simeon Solomon, and Albert Moore were introduced into the Pre-Raphaelite coterie, bringing fresh influences and issues to the table.

One aspect of this influx of new ideas was what is now referred to as the “Aesthetic Movement,” prevalent in the 1870s through the 1890s. Like Pre-Raphaelitism, it was derived from the values of both artists and writers, the most prominent proponents being James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903) and Oscar Wilde (1854-1900). In the visual arts this style was grounded in a desire to move away from the sentimental narratives of the early Victorian period. Instead, these artists chose to focus on images of “beauty” with little or no “storyline,” a response, to some extent to the French critic Theophile Gautier’s appeal for an “art for art’s sake.” In the work of these painters, many of them Pre-Raphaelite, color harmony, the beauty of form and compositional balance took precedence over narrative. Albert Moore was a key participant in the quest for “beauty” in all its purity. A quiet, reticent man, he was friendly with various members of the Pre-Raphaelite circle. Around 1865 he came under the influence of James McNeill Whistler and began working in a more decorative manner. The myopic focus on form and color harmonies in lieu of subject matter is quite different from the earlier work of the Pre-Raphaelites. The harmony of the pale yellow of the gown, the peach colored head-wrap, and the muted tones of tile and foliage are the single-minded focus of this serene composition. In regard to the decorative arts created during the Aesthetic Movement, they often shared common characteristics. Japanese influences inspired

decorative arts of the late 19th century, as well as naturalistic motifs such as flowers, leaves, and various animals. This vase by Martin and Brothers Pottery shows the importance of Japanese design during the Aesthetic period. The Japanese Pavilion at the Exposition Universelle (Worlds Fair) of 1867 held in Paris set off a craze for Japanese art. Dante Gabriel Rossetti and James McNeil Whistler were both ardent collectors.

The Green Butterfly, c. 1879-1881 Albert Moore (1841-1893) Oil on wood panel Samuel and Mary R. Bancroft Memorial, 1935

Vase with Dragon Ornament, 1893 Edward Martin (1960-1915) Walter Martin (1857-1912) R.W. Martin and Brothers Pottery Incised and painted salt-glazed stoneware Acquisition Fund, 1982

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Artists and Art: John Everett Millais (1829-1896)

The Waterfall, 1853 John Everett Millais (1829-1896) Oil on panel Samuel and Mary R. Bancroft Memorial, 1935 The Artist: John Everett Millais was born in England in 1829. As a young child he showed promise as a painter and entered Sass’s School at the age of 9 and the Royal Academy at 11. He first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1846 and thereafter, won several prizes. He met fellow artists William Holman Hunt and Dante Gabriel Rossetti in 1848, while all three were at the Royal Academy. After discussing their frustration with the school’s practices and philosophies, they formed the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Ironically, in 1853 Millais was elected an associate to the Royal Academy, marking the final point in the dissolution of the Brotherhood. His Pre-Raphaelite technique soon gave way to a looser handling of pigment and, though retaining certain Pre-Raphaelite themes, his work became increasingly academic in style and often sentimental in subject. Millais gained considerable financial success as an artist and was elected president of the Royal Academy in 1896, but died soon thereafter. The Art: Millais painted this work in the summer of 1853 when he and his brother were invited by John Ruskin and his wife, Euphemia (Effie), to join them for a summer sojourn in Scotland. Ruskin saw Millais as the artist who achieved the Ruskinian ideal of “truth to nature.” During that trip, Millais and Effie fell in love. Unhappy in her marriage, Effie (depicted in image) proceeded to obtain a divorce on the grounds that she and Ruskin never consummated their union.

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Artists and Art: Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)

The Artist: Dante Gabriel Rossetti was an English painter, poet, and illustrator educated at Sass’s School and the Royal Academy. Dissatisfied with academic training, he studied briefly with Ford Madox Brown and William Holman Hunt. The strength of his personality made him the leader of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, although his work rarely adhered to Pre-Raphaelite principles. From the late 1850s until the mid-1860s his themes in both painting and poetry were drawn from Dante and the Arthurian legends, but after that his work centered on the portrayal of an unattainable and indifferent idealized woman to whom he attributed qualities of mystic sensibility and carnal sensuality. Rossetti was the mentor of Edward Burne-Jones and William Morris.

The Art: Found is perhaps Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s best known, and certainly most discussed, painting; the reason for this being that it was his only attempt at a major painting which would embody all the principles of Pre-Raphaelite theory; that is, making painstakingly accurate paintings from nature of contemporary subjects which carried with them a moral message. Found was inspired by William Bell Scott’s poem of 1837-53, “Rosabell,” or, as it was later retitled, “Maryanne.” Broadly speaking, “Maryanne” contrasted the wholesomeness of the country with the illness and depravity of the city in which Maryanne was tempted to go astray. Found shows the moment in which the young farmer bringing his calf to market in the early light of dawn finds his ex-sweetheart, who had broken with him in order to seek her fortune in the city and had been degraded by it until she had become a worn and ashen-faced prostitute. Rossetti shows us the dramatic moment at which the young man reaches out to the girl, but she, realizing her shame, turns her face away with a look of anguish.

Found, designed 1865; begun 1869 (unfinished) Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882) Oil on canvas Samuel and Mary R. Bancroft Memorial

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Artists and Art: William Holman Hunt (1827-1910)

The Artist: William Holman Hunt was the only one of the Brotherhood’s three founding members to adhere to its original principles throughout his career. His deep religious convictions resulted in a strong didactic element in his work and an almost microscopic rendering of detail in paintings crowded with symbolism. He made three trips to the Middle East in his pursuit of accurate background for his religious paintings and was the only one of the original Pre-Raphaelites to maintain such idealism. The Art: Isabella and the Pot of Basil was inspired by John Keat’s poem of the same name which, in turn, was derived from a story by Giovanni Boccaccio written in the Renaissance. Hunt began the large version, of which this picture is probably a replica, in Italy and finished it later in 1867 in England. In the gruesome tale, Isabella's brothers murder Lorenzo because they wish her to marry someone else. When Isabella discovers Lorenzo's body, she cuts off his head and buries it in a pot of basil, watering it with her tears.

The painting is filled with exotic objects, including a prie-dieu, which Hunt purchased in Florence, and a bronze pot. Hunt had traveled to the Holy Land in 1854, and this work, with its rich fabrics and flooring, reflects his enthusiasm for Middle Eastern culture. Hunt began this painting in Florence in 1867 shortly after the death of his first wife, Fanny Waugh. The figure of Isabella is a composite of two works Hunt did of his first wife while she was alive. This painting is considered to be a memorial to her.

Isabella and the Pot of Basil, 1867-68 William Holman Hunt (1827-1910) Oil on canvas Special Purchase Fund, 1947

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Artists and Art: Edward Burne-Jones (1833-1898)

The Council Chamber, 1872-92 Sir Edward Burne-Jones (1833-1898) Oil on canvas Samuel and Mary R. Bancroft Memorial, 1935 The Artist: Edward Burne-Jones was born in Birmingham, England, the son of a gilder and frame-maker. His early education was at the King Edward IV School and at the Government School of Design. In 1853 he entered Exeter College, Oxford where he met and became friends with William Morris. Together they became responsible for what is referred to as the “second generation” of Pre-Raphaelitism. The art critic John Ruskin was a particular supporter and patron of Burne-Jones, traveling with him to Italy in 1862. A succession of trips abroad helped to develop this artist’s mature style, a combination of early Pre-Raphaelite medievalism and Renaissance classicism. The Art: The Council Chamber represents the second scene in the so-called Briar Rose series, a project that occupied Burne-Jones for more than 30 years. The series was based on the story of “Sleeping Beauty,” re-told during the Victorian period by Alfred Tennyson in his poem “The Day-Dream.” The manner of execution, in pale pastel palette and dry brush, fresco-like technique is meant to convey an escapist, dreamy fantasy world. Bodies are draped languorously, one over the other in a sleep that takes them away from the harsh realities of life during the Industrial Revolution.

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Artists and Art: Marie Spartali Stillman (1844-1927)

The Artist: Marie Spartali grew up within the thriving Greek community of London in the mid-nineteenth century. Her early artistic endeavors were entirely amateur due both to her wealthy social status and female gender (Affluent women could learn to paint for personal enrichment, but earning a living would be frowned upon). She was introduced to the Pre-Raphaelite circle—Rossetti and Alfred Tennyson among them—through the Ionides, a Greek family of art patrons. It was this group of painters and writers who helped her to make up her mind to paint professionally, circumventing social convention. In 1864 she began training as a painter with Ford Madox Brown. She was particularly influenced by the work of Rossetti, turning to Greek mythological and Shakespearean subjects that were very similar to what he was painting at the time.

In 1869 Spartali met William James Stillman, founder of the American art magazine The Crayon. In 1871 she married him, despite the extreme displeasure of her family. The couple moved to Florence from 1878 until 1883 where her artistic skills blossomed. The success of her work was essential to the family’s finances, and much of her prolific output served as a primary source of economic support. The Art: Stillman worked primarily in watercolor, a medium considered most suitable for woman artists of this time period. In Love’s Messenger, Stillman worked in mixed media—gouache (an opaque watercolor), gum Arabic (a binding agent), pastel, and chalk. The combination of materials creates a rich surface which resembles oil paint, but has a softer finish. Love’s Messenger is an example of Stillman’s mature work, showing a combined influence of Burne-Jones and artists of the Italian Renaissance. In this painting a dove, bearing a love letter, lands on the hand of a young woman. She rewards the dove for its efforts with kernels of corn. In front of the woman is the embroidery she has set aside, which depicts a blind folded cupid, representing the figure of speech, “Love is blind.”

Love’s Messenger, c.1885 Marie Spartali Stillman (1844-1927) Watercolor, tempera, gold paint on paper mounted on wood Samuel and Mary R. Bancroft Memorial, 1935

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Curriculum Connections: Ideas for Extending Learning This information can be taught before and/or after a visit to a museum. Please adapt the information and activities to the grade level, ability, and learning styles of your students. Teachers may find some of them more suitable than others for meeting specific classroom goals. These materials may be reproduced for educational purposes. Elementary

Visual Analysis—Using works of art from the image CD, have students discuss the basic elements of art. Examining the artist’s use of line, color, shape, space, light, and texture encourages students to look beyond the image itself to the ways in which it was painted.

Understanding Symbols—Just as we understand a four-leaf clover as a symbol of good luck, the Pre-Raphaelite artists used objects in their paintings to represent particular ideas related to the narrative. They had a whole language of flowers, colors, and objects that they incorporated into their paintings. This use of symbolic language was meant to intensify the meaning of the work to those who viewed it. Discuss symbolism associated with flowers, colors, and everyday objects around the home or classroom. Have students make a coat of arms using symbols which tell about their family.

Narrative writing—Art is a wonderful way to inspire student’s writing. Show students a work of art from the image CD that tells a story. Have them examine the image closely and write down interesting features and details they notice. Using their list of details as a guide, students will write an original story related to what they see in the picture. Primary grade levels can focus on details and sequencing, while higher grade levels can use this activity to develop plot, character, and setting in their narrative writing.

Stained-Glass Creations—Morris & Company produced a variety of decorative and useful objects, and they were regularly commissioned to create works of stained glass. Have students celebrate the individual design and craftsmanship of the Arts and Crafts movement by creating their own unique “stained glass” designs using colored cellophane and black construction paper.

Observing Nature—Artist and art critic John Ruskin encouraged the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood to “go to Nature…rejecting nothing, selecting nothing, scorning nothing.” Give students a blank piece of paper and have them draw a line down the middle. On the first half, they will draw a leaf from memory. Next, give them a leaf from outside and have them draw what they see on the other half of the paper. Have them observe the leaf closely (Is it smooth? Are there points? What patterns do the veins make?) Have students write a compare and contrast of their two leaf drawings. How was drawing from imagination different from drawing from nature, and what new things have they learned by the latter?

Dramatic Play—As a class, dramatize a scene from one of the paintings included on the image CD, and then have the students follow the story to the next step.

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Curriculum Connections: Ideas for extending learning

Secondary Craft versus mass produced—Have students bring in two objects, one hand crafted and one mass produced. Write a paragraph comparing and contrasting how it was made and the positive and negatives involved in the production of their objects. List of Immortals—The seven members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood signed a document in 1848 which they called the “List of Immortals” (p. 19). This document listed a variety of artistic and literary figures that inspired them. Have the students select one name from the List of Immortals to research. In which ways might this figure encompass the aims of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (p. 4)? Double work of art—In 1848, Dante Gabriel Rossetti began creating what is now called a double work of art. In his double works, the paired image and text work together to offer a stronger understanding of Rossetti’s vision for both works. Have students select one of Rossetti’s paintings (see enclosed CD) and have them create a poem inspired by the painting. Industrial Revolution—The Pre-Raphaelites were very concerned with the changes in society brought about by the increasing mechanization of the Industrial Revolution. They questioned the effects that city life, factory work, and an increased distancing from nature were having on people around them. Have students do additional research on the Industrial Revolution, selecting one aspect that they would like to report on to the rest of their classmates. Each student will write an article on their topic, with all articles compiled to form a class newsletter on the Industrial Revolution. Literary inspirations—All of the Pre-Raphaelites shared an intense love of literature, and often turned to their favorite authors for inspiration, including writers such as William Shakespeare and John Keats. Have students select one of the following paintings to study in closer detail by reading the literary passages that inspired it. How has each artist captured the author’s words in their painting?

Painting: Romeo and Juliet, Ford Madox Brown (1869-1870) Literature: Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare

Painting: The Council Chamber, Edward Burne-Jones (1872-1892) Literature: “The Day Dream,” Lord Alfred Tennyson

Painting: Isabella and the Pot of Basil, William Holman Hunt (1867-1868) Literature: “Isabella; or, The Pot of Basil,” John Keats

The P.R.B. and “The Eight”—The Delaware Art Museum is renowned for it collection of Pre-Raphaelite art as well as its collection of works by John Sloan, an American artist of the early 20th century who was a member of “The Eight.” Also known as the “Ashcan School,” this group of artists was interested in depicting everyday city life in their art. Have students research the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and The Eight. How are these two groups of artists similar? How are they different?

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Resources BOOKS Barringer, Tim. Reading the Pre-Raphaelites. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1998. Delaware Art Museum: Selected Treasures. London: Scala, 2004. Elzea, Rowland. The Pre-Raphaelite Collections of the Delaware Art Museum. 2d ed. Wilmington: Delaware Art Museum, 1984. Elzea, Rowland and Betty Elzea. The Pre-Raphaelite Era 1848-1914. Wilmington: Delaware Art Museum, 1976. Fitzgerald, Penelope. Edward Burne-Jones: A Biography. London: Michael Joseph, 1975. Mancoff, Debra. The Arthurian Revival in Victorian Art. New York and London: Garland, 1990. Prettejohn, Elizabeth. The Art of the Pre-Raphaelites. London: Tate Publishing, 2000. Surtees, Virginia. The Paintings and Drawings of Dante Gabriel Rossetti 1828-1882. A Catalogue Raisonné. 2 vols. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1971. Staley, Allen and Christopher Newall, Pre-Raphaelite Vision: Truth to Nature. London: Tate Publishing, 2004. Toohey, Jeanette M. Pre-Raphaelites: The Samuel and Mary R. Bancroft Collection of the Delaware Art Museum. Wilmington: Delaware Art Museum, 1995.

Wildman, Stephen, Jan Marsh, and John Christian. Visions of Love and Life: Pre-Raphaelite Art from the Birmingham Collection, England. Alexandria: Art Services International, 1995.

Wildman, Stephen. Waking Dreams: The Art of the Pre-Raphaelites from the Delaware Art Museum. Alexandria: Delaware Art Museum, 2005.

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Resources WEBSITES P.R.B.: The Samuel and Mary R. Bancroft Collection of Pre-Raphaelite Art

www.preraph.org The Rossetti Archive

www.rossettiarchive.org A Brotherhood of Realism and Romance: The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, by Richard Moss

www.24hourmuseum.org.uk/trlout_gfx_en/TRA18481.html Art Magick Archive—Biographies of Pre-Raphaelite Artists

www.artmagick.com/archive The Victorian Web: Literature, History & Culture in the Age of Victoria

www.victorianweb.org The William Morris Society

www.morrissociety.org The Victorian Society in America

www.victoriansociety.org The Pre-Raphaelite Critic

www.engl.duq.edu/servus?PR_Critic

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The P.R.B.’s “List of Immortals”

At the inaugural meeting of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (September 1848), Rossetti and Holman Hunt had created a document which would be signed by all seven members. Known as the List of Immortals, this document listed figures that inspired them, and which they graded by a star system (none to four). The list had the following one-sentence preamble:

We, the undersigned, declare that the following list of Immortals constitutes the whole of our Creed, and that there exists no other Immortality than what is

centred in their names and in the names of their contemporaries, in whom this list is reflected—

Jesus Christ**** The Author of Job***

Shakespeare*** Homer** Dante**

Chaucer** Leonardo da Vinci**

Goethe** Keats**

Shelley** Landor**

Thackeray** Washington** Browning**

Alfred** Boccaccio*

Fra Angelico* Mrs. Browning*

Patmore*

Raphael* Longfellow*

The Author of Stories after Nature* Tennyson*

Pheidias Early Gothic Architects

Cavalier Pugliesi Rienzi

Ghiberti Spenser Hogarth Flaxman Hilton

Kosciusko Byron

Wordsworth Haydon

Cervantes Isaiah

Joan of Arc Michael Angelo

Early English Balladists Giovanni Bellini

Giorgioni Titian

Tintoretto Poussin Milton

Cromwell Hampden

Bacon Newton

Poe Hood

Emerson Leigh Hunt

Wilkie Columbus

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Glossary academic A general term for artworks that seem to be based upon rules set up by some person or group other than the artist. Artists created academic artworks by following established, traditional rules emphasized by leaders of European art schools or academies in the 1700s and 1800s. Aesthetic Movement A late 19th-century English movement which advocated a philosophy of “art for art’s sake.” Arts and Crafts Movement (1880-1914) The Arts and Crafts Movement began in England from an awareness of the need to preserve qualities of design and craftsmanship, in the face of increasing industrialization and mass production. Led by William Morris, it rejected the shoddy standards of mass production and the fussy and over-elaborate designs that had become popular. Instead, it sought to integrate high aesthetic principles with fine workmanship. chivalry The system, spirit, or customs held by medieval knighthood including the qualities of the ideal knight, such as bravery, honor, protection of the weak and generous treatment of the enemy. crafts Works of art, decorative or useful, that are skillfully made by hand. Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood A name adopted by group of English artists in 1848 to show their admiration for the early Italian Renaissance painters that existed prior to the artist Raphael. They created a style of art which advocated the disciplined study and precise rendering of the natural world, the use of bright colors, and the use of literary sources. Their artwork looked back to the romance of medieval chivalry, while documenting contemporary Victorian social issues. Renaissance (1400-1600) French for “Rebirth.” A period that began in Italy after the Middle Ages. The period was marked by a renewed interest in ancient Greek and Roman culture, the study of human beings and their environment, as well as science and philosophy. romance A prose or poetical tale of imagination, adventure, chivalry, etc., such as the tales of King Arthur: so called because written originally in the Romantic dialects. Also the class or style of fictional works about idealized love. Royal Academy A society founded in London in 1768, under the patronage of King George III, to encourage painting, sculpture, and design in England.

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Delaware Art Museum Information

School Tours

Guided tours of the Delaware Art Museum's Bancroft Collection of Pre-Raphaelite Art are offered to schools, organizations, community groups and private groups of ten or more by reservation. Tours led by trained guides are scheduled Tuesday through Sunday. Due to the high demand for guided tours, it is suggested that reservations be made at least four weeks prior to your projected tour date.

To schedule a group tour, contact the Education Department at 302-571-9590 ext. 509 or via e-mail at cwaring@delart.org. Tours may also be scheduled using an online tour reservation form found at www.delart.org. Program Costs

Admission for guided student tours is $4 for students. For grades K-3, two chaperones are required for every 10 students. For grades 4-12, one chaperone for every 10 students is required. Chaperones are free of charge up to the ratio limit. Additional chaperones are $5 each. Red Apple Fund

The Red Apple Fund for Student Enrichment was inaugurated in 2006 to further the Delaware Art Museum’s educational mission. The Red Apple Fund will finance tours of the Museum for school groups in academic levels ranging from kindergarten through grade 12 as well as individual enrollment in studio art classes and seasonal camps that teach the fundamentals of art.

The Red Apple Fund is supported by The Laffey-McHugh Foundation and Target. To apply for a Red Apple Grant, go to www.delart.org/redapple/html.

HOURS

Monday Closed Tuesday 10 am - 4 pm Wednesday 10 am - 4 pm Thursday 10 am - 4 pm Friday 10 am - 4 pm Saturday 10 am - 4 pm Sunday Noon - 4 pm

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Acknowledgments

Bancroft Collection re-installation sponsored by DuPont

Additional support provided by:

The Getty Foundation, a program of the J. Paul Getty Trust in Los Angeles

The Laffey-McHugh Foundation National Endowment for the Arts

Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency committed to promoting and supporting the arts in Delaware

Delaware Humanities Forum Target

Free Sundays made possible by AstraZeneca

Delaware Art Museum • 2301 Kentmere Parkway • Wilmington, DE • 19806 • (302) 571-9590 • www.delart.org