Pre-Raphelite art was based on a desire to challege the
conventions that the great artists of the early seventeenth
century had set. When Royal Academy schools taught that figures
were to be arranged in a pyramidal shape with one major source
of light mirrored by a minor light source, with an emphasis on
shading, the PreRaphelites would create brightly colored works
of art with both figures and light evenly distributed. The PRB
also emphasized the realistic portrayal of all objects,
regardless of seeming importance, including those traditionally
blurred or shaded. Arthur Hughes was considered a "hard-edge
Pre-Raphelite associate", yet his painting April Love seems to
embody most of the qualities embraced by conventional art. While
there is only one figure, thus avoiding a pyramidal grouping,
she stands in a dark shelter, the background hidden in shadows.
There is a major source of light coming from beyond the ivy on
the left, illuminating the majority of her face, while the
window behind is a minor light sour