The Pre-raphaelites and Italy - 9781848220751

This important book accompanies the major exhibition of the same name, opening at the Ashmolean Museum on 16 September 2010 - the first to explore the fascination of the Pre-Raphaelite painters with Italy: its landscape, art and culture.

Covering the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in the broadest sense, from its foundation in 1848 to the second generation (including Burne-Jones and Crane), it also includes the works of a group of English artists known as the Etruscans, who were followers of the Italian painter Giovanni Costa.

Ruskin, whose awareness of Italy was both imaginative and visceral, and who made numerous trips to Italy throughout his life, emerges as a key influence on the relationship of the Pre-Raphaelite painters to Italian culture. Ruskin's own drawings provide a personal record of his engagement with the places he visited.

This volume does not simply function as a guide to the exhibition, but can be read on its own as a title which explores the relationship of the Pre-Raphaelite brothers to Italy and to each other in a fresh and original way. It looks at what being in the Brotherhood meant to its members, and what the public understood by it.

Featuring a significant number of works from private collections not previously reproduced, The Pre-Raphaelites and Italy is essential reading for all students of 19th-century art and culture.