Why were the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood’s paintings criticized when they first appeared?

When the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood’s works were first exhibited, they faced harsh criticism primarily for their rejection of established academic standards. Critics, including the novelist Charles Dickens, attacked the group for disregarding traditional academic ideals of beauty.12

Furthermore, the Brotherhood was condemned for its perceived irreverence in depicting religious themes with an uncompromising, near-photographic realism. By choosing to portray biblical and medieval subjects with a raw, unadorned directness inspired by 15th-century Italian art, the painters challenged the artificial and conventional styles favored by the Royal Academy at the time.13

Despite this initial backlash, the group found a staunch defender in the influential art critic John Ruskin. Ruskin, who championed the movement's commitment to empirical accuracy and its departure from Neoclassical assumptions, published pamphlets and wrote letters to The Times to support the artists against their detractors.124