Detail, poetry and dreamed Middle Ages · The Pre-Raphaelite universe

Waterhouse, Burne-Jones and Holman Hunt combine luminous precision, literary stories, female figures and symbols in a world of great decorative intensity.

Founded in 1848, the Pre-Raphaelite brotherhood wants to rediscover the sincerity, light color and precision that it associates with artists prior to Raphael. William Holman Hunt observes each object meticulously and charges the decor with moral or religious signs. Edward Burne-Jones extends this heritage in elongated figures, medieval cycles and more dreamy poetry. John William Waterhouse, later, takes up myths, literature and legends in compositions where heroines, flowers, water and fabrics form an immediately recognizable atmosphere. John William Waterhouse, later, takes up myths, literature and legends in compositions where heroines, flowers, water and fabrics form an immediately recognizable atmosphere. The Annunciation allows us to compare several ways of combining sacred narrative and symbolic detail. The Crystal Ball and The Pilgrim outside the garden of idleness show how magical object, medieval text and decor can become the driving forces of the image. The "Preraphaelitism" selection notably compares The Annunciation - John William Waterhouse and The Annunciation and the Adoration of the Magi - Edward Burne-Jones. Its reading favors the material.

Pre-Raphaelitism gives detail a poetic function: each flower, fabric, reflection or object seems to carry a part of the story.