| Director's
note: In 1848, in Victorian England,three young artists, John Everett
Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and
William Holman Hunt, challenged the
guidelines or "code" that all artists
had to follow if they wished their work
to be shown at the Royal Academy. This
group, known as the Pre-Raphealite
Brotherhood, was championed by John
Ruskin, the foremost art critic of the
time. In 1853, to show his support of
the group, he commissioned Millais to
paint his portrait. Together with
Ruskin's wife, Effie, they tracelled to
Scotland where they shared a cottage in
the highlands.
The events of that summer led to an
aftermath that shocked Victorian society
and caused a scandal that was not
resolved for more than 40 years. The
Countess tells that story.
|