The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was founded in 1848 by a group of English painters, poets, and critics who rejected the mechanistic approach of the Royal Academy. They sought to return to the abundant detail, intense colours, and complex compositions of Quattrocento Italian art — the art before Raphael, which they considered to be the corrupting influence on academic painting.

Notable members include Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Everett Millais, and William Holman Hunt. Their works are characterized by vivid colours, meticulous detail, and subjects drawn from literature, mythology, and religion.