Surprisingly I thought this was very entertaining. I will definitley be watching tonight, really enjoyed the first episode. As people have mentioned its similar in tone to Casanova, which I like.
The criticism of the Millais young Christ painting that was spoken in the episode was originally written in a review by Dickens - he was originally a great critic but seemed to make up with Mallais later in life.
Yeah, Charles Dickens reviewed some of their exhibitions. I think Millais bore the brunt of his cristicisms with his religious paintings.
Had a look at the BBC guide to the actual paintings(get me being all cultured). Intersting -audio commnetary only about 3-4minutes, about each featured painting. Worth a listen if like me you know nothing about the art or the era.
Dickens was very rude about the poor woman who posed as the Virgin Mary, she was millais's sister in law IIRC.
I really enjoyed the second episode too, and as TykeLass said last week they do appear to be telling their stories faithfully. Not that I'm an expert - I've just been reading about them since the series started!
Just caught up with ep 2. on iplayer.
Enjoyed this episode. Especially loving Aidan Turner as the charming Rossetti. Strangely, also find Millais endearing. It's really prompted me to learn more about the artists and their works. The Desperate Romantics website as mentioned earlier in the thread has some Expert Commentary about the paintings which is interesting to listen to.
Also Aidan Turner reading a sonnet by Rossetti makes me swoon. Did I mention I liked Aidan Turner?
Being an admirer of the Pre-Raphaelite artists but not knowing much about them, I had to watch this. I found it very enjoyable, wasn't expecting it to be so humerous. It also reminded me of Casanova. I watched the 3 recent BBC4 documentaries on the PRB (which were excellent - if they're repeated make sure you watch them) and it does seem that at least they are trying to be historically accurate in this production. Will definitely be watching the rest of the series. The BBC have set up a website for the programme and you can look at some of the paintings in more detail http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00lvyq2
I'm really enjoying the series. I got interested in the subject after watching the excellent BBC 4 documentay quoted by TykeLass. Before that I had no real interest in the subject, thinking they were all about that cloying Victorian Pears Soap type stuff.
The series is being repeated, first part tonight at 10pm on BBC4. It's highly recommended. Really informative and only 30 mins!
I'm really enjoying the series. I got interested in the subject after watching the excellent BBC 4 documentay quoted by TykeLass. Before that I had no real interest in the subject, thinking they were all about that cloying Victorian Pears Soap type stuff.
The series is being repeated, first part tonight at 10pm on BBC4. It's highly recommended. Really informative and only 30 mins!
Thanks Scrimmidge, I was hoping it would be repeated.
Same here... I was disappointed in the first episode by the lack of "depth", but now I'm just enjoying the romping!! Tonight's episode was very funny! Looks like it's going to be even worse next week! Millais and Effie were great. She reminds me of Kate Winslet somehow..
Same here... I was disappointed in the first episode by the lack of "depth", but now I'm just enjoying the romping!! Tonight's episode was very funny! Looks like it's going to be even worse next week! Millais and Effie were great. She reminds me of Kate Winslet somehow..
I agree Millais and Effie were superb!:D
It gets better every week and next week looks just as hilarious!:D
Another cracking episode. Millais is a sweetie. I liked Lizzie's compassion for Effie too, it sort of added a little bit of seriousness to the Millais and Effie's situation and how it could have ended up horribly. And the virginity test :eek:
Didn't like Rossetti in this episode, but I think he might redeem himself once he gets his masterpieces underway.
I enjoyed this week's episode very much and it made me curious about what really happened. As I work in a library I looked for a biography about Ruskin- we didn't have one on the shelf but I did find a biography of Milliais. Apparently the writers of DS took a few liberties with the facts: Effie did pose for the painting about the Scottish woman obtaining her husband's release. But Effie and Milllais didn't fall in love until Millais joined Effie and Ruskin on a trip to Scotland which took place after the painting was completed. According to the biography Ruskin may have encouraged the romance by allowing Effie and Millais to take long walks through the countryside together. The biography quoted several letters written by Effie and suggested that she didn't mind that Ruskin never consummated their marriage - until she fell in love with Millais. It was then that she started to put pressure on Ruskin by quoting the Bible about a husband's duties to his wife. Most of the details in DS were accurate and I recognized a lot of the dialogue from the historical documents quoted in the biography. Three cheers to the DS writers- they made the events a little more colourful but very entertaining.:) The biography's account of the end of the Ruskins' marriage and the annulment was actually rather flat There was a controversy over whether Ruskin destroyed several sketches by Turner because of their erotic nature, but a few years ago the sketches turned up in an archive. The sketches that Ruskin kept hidden in his desk in DS must be an allusion to this controversy. Apparently because of the annulment Effie wasn't invited to many society events - she wasn't allowed to be present at an event attended by the Queen until very late in her life, when the Queen relented. Poor Effie.
Oh Dear God! But I loved Rosetti's comment that Millais should wash it afterwards . . . and probably before
That really made me laugh too.
Really enjoying this series - looking forward to Rosetti getting into his painting stride
Same here, on both counts. As Abriel said I wondered whether Rosetti was really as bad as they're portraying (eek, no pun intended ). If he wasn't so damn dishy I might not like him.
Comments
Yeah, Charles Dickens reviewed some of their exhibitions. I think Millais bore the brunt of his cristicisms with his religious paintings.
Had a look at the BBC guide to the actual paintings(get me being all cultured). Intersting -audio commnetary only about 3-4minutes, about each featured painting. Worth a listen if like me you know nothing about the art or the era.
Dickens was very rude about the poor woman who posed as the Virgin Mary, she was millais's sister in law IIRC.
Absolutely Love the music!
Excellent series, keep it up BBC.
Graham.
Enjoyed this episode. Especially loving Aidan Turner as the charming Rossetti. Strangely, also find Millais endearing. It's really prompted me to learn more about the artists and their works. The Desperate Romantics website as mentioned earlier in the thread has some Expert Commentary about the paintings which is interesting to listen to.
Also Aidan Turner reading a sonnet by Rossetti makes me swoon. Did I mention I liked Aidan Turner?
I'm really enjoying the series. I got interested in the subject after watching the excellent BBC 4 documentay quoted by TykeLass. Before that I had no real interest in the subject, thinking they were all about that cloying Victorian Pears Soap type stuff.
The series is being repeated, first part tonight at 10pm on BBC4. It's highly recommended. Really informative and only 30 mins!
Thanks Scrimmidge, I was hoping it would be repeated.
Graham.
I'm going rapidly off Gabriel though!
I agree Millais and Effie were superb!:D
It gets better every week and next week looks just as hilarious!:D
Scrimmidge thanks for the heads up on the documentary, interesting though hard to watch without seeing the DS boys.
I was hoping the documentary might throw some light on their real characters.
Didn't like Rossetti in this episode, but I think he might redeem himself once he gets his masterpieces underway.
Oh Dear God! But I loved Rosetti's comment that Millais should wash it afterwards . . . and probably before
Really enjoying this series - looking forward to Rosetti getting into his painting stride
Same here, on both counts. As Abriel said I wondered whether Rosetti was really as bad as they're portraying (eek, no pun intended