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
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

2
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.

3
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 Portrait of Samuel Bancroft Jr., c. 1909
Winifred Sandys (1875-1944)
largest in the United States. Bancroft exhibited his Watercolor on ivory
collection at the Art Club of Philadelphia, the Samuel and Mary R. Bancroft Memorial, 1935

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.

Drawing Room, Rockford

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

4
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 Found, designed 1865; begun 1869 (unfinished)
Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)
find work. Unable to make an honorable living, she has Oil on canvas
turned to prostitution, a social problem resulting from Samuel and Mary R. Bancroft Memorial
England’s transition from a rural to metropolitan culture.
During this time many young women turned to prostitution to
survive.

5
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, 1881
Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)
Oil on canvas
Samuel and Mary R. Bancroft Memorial, 1935
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

6
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.
The Arming of a Knight, 1857-58
William Morris (1834-1896)
At the end of 1856, Morris and Burne-Jones rented a flat at Red Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)
Lion Square, London, which was formerly occupied by Rossetti. Painted deal, leather, and nails
Acquired through the bequest of Dora
Morris ordered a suite of furniture from a local cabinetmaker, Wright Anderson and the F.V. duPont
which were based on his own designs. Included in the order was Acquisition Fund, 1997

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.

7
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-
The Green Butterfly,
Raphaelites. The harmony of the pale yellow of the gown, the peach
c. 1879-1881 colored head-wrap, and the muted tones of tile and foliage are the single-
Albert Moore
(1841-1893)
minded focus of this serene composition.
Oil on wood panel
Samuel and Mary R.
In regard to the decorative arts created during the
Bancroft Memorial, 1935
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. 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

8
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.

9
Artists and Art: Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)

The Artist:

Dante Gabriel Rossetti was an English

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

10
 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

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

11
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.

12
Artists and Art: Marie Spartali Stillman (1844-1927)

The Artist:

Marie Spartali grew up within the thriving

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
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.”

13
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.

14
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** Shelley**
Dante** Landor**
Chaucer** Thackeray**
Leonardo da Vinci** Washington**
Goethe** Browning**
Keats** Alfred**
Boccaccio* Raphael*
Fra Angelico* Longfellow*
Mrs. Browning* The Author of Stories
Patmore* after Nature*
Tennyson*
Pheidias Early English Balladists
Early Gothic Architects Giovanni Bellini
Cavalier Pugliesi Giorgioni
Rienzi Titian
Ghiberti Tintoretto
Spenser Poussin
Hogarth Milton
Flaxman Cromwell
Hilton Hampden
Kosciusko Bacon
Byron Newton
Wordsworth Poe
Haydon Hood
Cervantes Emerson
Isaiah Leigh Hunt
Joan of Arc Wilkie
Michael Angelo 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

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