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AnnaAntonowicz
Intheirearlyworksmembersproducedreligiouspaintingsmarkedforthe
realismandmimeticaccuracyofthebodiesportrayedusingrealhumanmodels.
Inspiteofthepre-moderncharacteroftheirwork,themembersofthe
Brotherhoodconsideredthe‘physicalbaseness’oftheirhard-edgerealisman
exampleofthemodernempiricalmethodofobservationandanear-scientific
challengetotheprevailingconventionalaesthetics.F.G.Stephens,animportant
15
criticinP.R.B.,alignedthismodeofobservationwiththemodern-dayscientist:
Thescienceshavebecomealmostexactwiththepresentcentury.łAndhowhas
thisbeendonebutbybringinggreaterknowledgetobearuponawiderrangeof
experiment;bybeingpreciseinthesearchaftertruth?Ifthisadherencetofact,to
experimentandnottheory,-tobeginatthebeginningandnottoflytotheend,
-hasaddedsomuchtotheknowledgeofmaninscience;whymayitnotgreatly
assistthemoralpurposesoftheArts?
16
ThisapproachdeterminedthevisualconventionofPre-Raphaelitepaintings
thatputemphasisontheparticularandnaturalratherthanthegeneraland
conventionalized;ontheexpressivenessofthehumanfaceandbody;andonhow
thesetogetherwererelatedtoaperson’stemperament,behaviourandspiritual
values.ThatiswhythedistinctformoffemalebeautythattheBrotherhood
introducedwasmodelledonparticularwomen:thepainters’femalefamily
members,butespeciallyElizabethSiddalandJaneMorris,theprominentmuses
inPre-RaphaeliteBrotherhoodcirclesaswellasartistsintheirownright.
Rossetti’spaintingsandsketchesofSiddalinthe1850sandphotographsof
Morris’swifeJaneinthe1860s,offerimagesofpowerfulwomen,withbodily
shapesexpressingpassionsandsexuality.Thelackofcrinolinesandcorsets,the
presenceofanaturalwaistandloosedraperythatfollowedthenaturalcurvesof
thefemalewearerandenhancedthemobilityandflexibilityofthebody,aswell
asthevoluminoussleevessethighontheshouldersothatnomovementwould
berestricted-thesehelpedtomarktheexpressive,individualcorporalityofthe
depictedwomenandbecamethemostcharacteristicfeaturesofPre-Raphaelite
dress.17
15
TimBarringer,op.cit.,pp.10,42;KenMontague.“TheAestheticsofHygiene:Aesthetic
Dress,Modernity,andtheBodyasSign”.JournalofDesignHistory,vol.7,no.2(1994),
p.97.
16
FredericGeorgeStephens.“ThePurposeandTendencyofEarlyItalianArt”.Germ,no.2
(February,1850).ReprintedinTheGerm:ThoughtstowardsNatureinPoetry,Literature,
andArt.London1901,p.61.
17
SophiaWilson.“AwaywiththeCorsets,OnwiththeShifts”,inSimplyStunning:
ThePre-RaphaeliteArtofDressing.CheltenhamArtGalleryandMuseums.Cheltenham
1996,p.20;RobyneEricaCalvert.FashioningtheArtist:ArtisticDressinVictorian
