#Victorian Era

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth by John Singer Sargent

On December 29th, 1888, John Singer Sargent went to the Lyceum Theatre in London to watch the premiere of Shakespeare’s Macbeth starring Henry...

Catriona Miller 12 January 2025

John Singer Sargent, Lady Agnew of Lochnaw, 1892, Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh, UK. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Lady Agnew of Lochnaw by John Singer Sargent

Lady Agnew of Lochnaw is a masterpiece by John Singer Sargent. It portrays a Victorian woman in a bold, modern manner. Sargent combined masterful...

James W Singer 12 January 2025

A Victorian Christmas card featuring a robin in a top hat and a robin in a bonnet. The text reads: ‘Happy returns. Christmas comes but once a year.’ History

Victorian Christmas Cards: Strange or Timeless?

It’s thanks to the Victorians that the tradition of sending Christmas cards exists. The very first commercial Christmas card was sent in 1843, and...

Jenna Burns 24 December 2024

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: The Roses of Heliogabalus by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema

Lust, Gluttony, and Sloth. Three of the Seven Deadly Sins are depicted in Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema’s The Roses of Heliogabalus. Many other sins are...

James W Singer 22 December 2024

Impressionism

The Dazzling Davies Sisters and Their Impressionist Art Collection

The Davies sisters grew up in a remote corner of Victorian Wales. They were religious, teetotal and never married. But these demure young women, with...

Candy Bedworth 5 December 2024

John Everett Millais, Autumn Leaves, 1855, Manchester Art Gallery, Manchester, UK. Detail. Painting

An Ode to Autumn with John Everett Millais

Autumn weather can be unpredictable. Some days the earth looks as if cut out of crystal: the sky is a milky blue, and the sunlight is sparkling and...

Hannah Demaine 14 November 2024

JMW Turner, Rain, Steam and Speed, 1844, National Gallery, London, UK. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Rain, Steam and Speed by J. M. W. Turner

J. M, W, Turner’s Rain, Steam, and Speed is a masterpiece of Victorian Romanticism infused with hopes, fears, and reminisces. It catapults the...

James W Singer 10 November 2024

Harry Clarke, Its Figures Passed By Me from Edgar Allan Poe, Tales of Mystery and Imagination, George G. Harrap and Co., London, 1919. Public Domain Review. Detail. Literature

Beautiful and Scary: Illustrations for Poe’s Horror Stories by Harry Clarke

Harry Clarke was an Irish stained glass artist and book illustrator. He made notable works in both fields but somehow his stained glass works are a...

Marija Canjuga 31 October 2024

WTF Art History

Secrets of Ghost Photography in the 19th Century

Spirit photography, photographs that allegedly show ghosts, have always captured the eye. They are peculiar, bizarre, but above all else horrifying.

Sofia Rodriguez Cuevas 29 October 2024

Art Nouveau

Masterpiece Story: The Climax by Aubrey Beardsley

Aubrey Beardsley’s legacy endures, etched into the contours of the Art Nouveau movement. His distinctive style, marked by grotesque imagery and...

Lisa Scalone 27 October 2024

Love Story

Flaming June or Dorothy Dene? A Muse of Frederic Leighton

In 1879, Frederic Leighton’s biographer and neighbor (that’s handy, isn’t it?), Mrs. Barrington, noticed “a young girl with a lovely white...

Magda Michalska 22 October 2024

Love Story

Masterpiece Story: Beata Beatrix by Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Read the story of Beata Beatrix by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, one of the key members of the Pre-Raphaelites movement. Discover the fascinating meanings...

Bolor Jargalsaikhan 20 October 2024