Sharon Butler posts a defense of the paintings of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, written by painter Thomas Germano.

Germano questions the prevailing tendency to dismiss Pre-Raphaelite painting: "While some will dismiss Pre-Raphaelite art as illustrative because they were the first artists to employ the new technology of photography in their art, the use of photography today is a perfectly accepted method of image making and artists no longer hide this fact nor apologize for doing so. The Pre-Raphaelites were simply too popular and widely circulated in their day and critics have always frowned upon the universal acceptance of the PRB art movement questioning, 'how can anything this popular be good art when so many commoners admire it?'… While I've never been the first to champion the PRB, this exhibition demonstrates their brilliance and proves exactly why "now" is the time to re-examine their admirable accomplishments. "

The exhibition Pre-Raphaelites: Victorian Art and Design, 1848-1900 is on view at the National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., through May 19, 2013.