Pre-Raphaelite art in London: Where to see paintings in the capital

With all that auburn hair and medieval garb, few artistic sets got more romantic than the Pre-Raphaelites.

The Victorian painters known as the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood certainly had a thing for history, creating a whole painterly movement around the idea of rejecting modernity and returning to the middle ages.

You'll be able to pick out a nineteenth century Pre-Raphaelite painting in a room by spotting the ridiculously beautiful and usually red-headed figures, dressed up in luxuriously draped robes and engaged in some sort of medieval legend or myth.

This autumn, Tate Britain welcomes a major exhibition dedicated to the work of Edward Burne Jones, one of the most influential artists of the movements later years.

If this has got you giddy with excitement, then you’ll be even more pleased to know that there are galleries all across London that are home to Pre-Raphaelite works you can view all year round.

If you’re ready for some Rossetti and hankering for some Holman-Hunt, these are the galleries you need to feed your Pre-Raphaelite habit.

Tate Britain

As you would expect for a gallery dedicated to the art of Britain, Tate’s original site hosts a simply astounding collection of Pre-Raphaelite works, many of which are on show. There are too many masterworks to list on the walls, but count multiple works by Brotherhood members John Everett Millais, William Holman Hunt and Ford Madox Brown among them.

Highlights include the stunning Proserpine by the Brotherhood’s commander-in-chief Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and The Lady of Shalott by John William Waterhouse, a later painter who followed in the Pre-Raphaelite’s footsteps. Of course, you’ll also need to check out the Edward Burne-Jones exhibition, which will tell the story of another following painter who also worked in stained glass design.

General admission free, Millbank, Westminster, SW1P 4RG, tate.org.uk

V&A

Fashion, furnishings and photography are probably more likely to come to mind when you think about the V&A museum, but the design-centric institution also hosts a superb painting and drawing collection. In the Painting Galleries, you’ll find the Ionides Collection, which is home to The Day Dream, one of Rossetti’s most famous works, as a monochromatic work by Burne-Jones. If you head to the prints and drawings galleries, you’ll find even more draughtsmanship examples from the likes of Millais and more.

General admission free, Cromwell Road, Knightsbridge, SW7 2RL, vam.ac.uk

Guildhall Art Gallery

The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood largely lived and worked in London – and now the City itself owns a number of their paintings. The work at Guildhall Art Gallery here dates from 1670 right up to contemporary, and naturally include some superb examples of Pre-Raphaelite works. The star attraction here is La Ghirlandata by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, a celebrated portrait of a flame-haired woman playing a harp while flanked by two angels and rich green foliage. You can also find a duo of works by John Everett Millais called My First Sermon and My Second Sermon, as well as a The Eve of St Agnes, a work by William Holman-Hunt based on a poem by John Keats.

General admission free, Guildhall Yard, City of London, EC2V 5AE, cityoflondon.gov.uk

Red House

Pre-Raphaelites had an aversity to many of the cultural trappings of the Industrial Revolution. As a result, the Brotherhood mingled with the Arts and Crafts design movement pioneered by William Morris. Red House, Morris’s beautifully designed home in Bexleyheath, was a frequent meeting spot for them all, and many artist contributed work to the house. Burne-Jones painted Sir Degrevaunt as a wedding present for William Morris, and in 2003, a spectacular wall painting was found behind a cupboard at the property. It is believed to have been a collaborative work between Burne-Jones and Elizabeth Siddal, Rossetti’s partner.

Admission starts at £8, Red House Lane, Bexleyheath, DA6 8JF, nationaltrust.org.uk

William Morris Gallery

While not exactly a Pre-Raphaelite painter, William Morris was something of an honorary fellow. The William Morris Gallery in Walthamstow was Morris’s family home between 1848 and 1856, and is now home to works by him and his contemporaries. Among these you’ll find a great deal of works by Burne-Jones, including the dramatic and densely coloured Saint George and the Dragon, as well as a painting of Jacopo Foscari in Prison by Ford Madox Brown, and a portrait of William Morris himself by Charles Fairfax Murray.

General admission free, Lloyd Park, Forest Road, Walthamstow, E17 4PP, wmgallery.org.uk/

Dulwich Picture Gallery

Dulwich Picture Gallery boasts an international collection of Canalettos, Poussins and a Rembrandt. Closer to home, you’ll also find a work by Charles Fairfax Murray, an artist who became Burne-Jones assistant before becoming friends with the likes of Rossetti and the groundbreaking designer William Morris. The luminously painted The King’s Daughters is the only Pre-Raphaelite painting here, but Murray has a further connection to the gallery as he donated lots of English art to the museum in his lifetime, including 46 English portraits.

Admission starts at £9, Gallery Road, Dulwich, SE21 7AD, dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk