The Pre-Raphaelite Language of Flowers

About the book

The Pre-Raphaelite Language of Flowers by Debra N. Mancoff is a history book for adult readers.

This exquisite collection of paintings illustrates just how marvellously the Pre-Raphaelites' focus on the natural world intersected with the Victorian passion for all things botanical. Short-lived but highly influential, the Pre-Raphaelite movement was fuelled by a rejection of academic artistic conventions and a longing for the aesthetic simplicity and moral sincerity of medieval and early Renaissance art.

But it also coincided with a Victorian obsession with botany, gardening and flower arranging. As a result, painters such as Rosetti, Millais and Hughes populated their works with floral symbols that were steeped in religious and cultural significance. This stunning book examines the greatest of these works, including portraits of Hamlet's Ophelia, the Virgin Mary, and figures from Greek mythology and medieval lore.

Delivery & pickup: Available from Whimsy and Wonder with New Zealand delivery or Christchurch pickup.