The Pre-Raphaelite Body

`There is no doubt about the impeccable scholarship of Prof. J B Bullen in this book. ... There are fine pieces of penetrating reading of key texts, extensive and accurate bibliographical data, and very competent nuggets of Victorian lore All this basic and reliable information is precious for the students discovering the period and what has been written about it. ,,, the book could easily be used for a foundation course on Pre-Raphaelitism ... should also be read by fellow specialists to spark off some interesting and enjoyable debates.' Jean-Marie Baissus/Cahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens No 48 (1998) `This book is a study of art criticism and the depiction of the human body, rather than cultural gender constructions ... Bullen ... provides a challenge to the standard conceptions of medievalism in this period that can only enhance our understanding of this form of stylistic expression ... present new ideas and models that must be integrated into histories of these artists to more fully understand their productions, cultural milieu, and personal and reception histories.' Jason M. Rosenfeld, The Journal of Pre-Raphaelite Studies `an important survey of discourses of Victorian malaise, a case-study in the topography of discontent ... Bullen's elegantly written book reveals a lexicon of discomfort with bodily images which violated conventional modes of visual representation, and which seemed, in their degeneracy, to endanger the nation's well-being. This is an illuminating study, an important source-text, a volume which throws light on cultural history, sexual mores, the formation of discourses on the aesthetic, and the purchase of culturally constructed gender roles on the reception of avant-garde Victorian paintin and poetry.' Francis O'Gorman, Cheltenham and Gloucester College of Higher Education, The Review of English Studies, vol 50, no 199, 1999