Though this period sees a continuing interest in art for art's sake, Victorian artists never entirely give up their interest in moralizing.
c. 1880 - 1901
videos + essays
Subjects from classical mythology abound in late Victorian art.
Sir Frederic Leighton, An Athlete Wrestling with a Python
An epic showdown between man’s moralizing musculature and serpentine sin.
George Frederic Watts, The Minotaur
Inspired by a campaign to raise the age of consent, Watts harked back to the Athenian version of the Hunger Games.
Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, Listening to Homer
This master of texture was wildly popular in the nineteenth century. Why was he forgotten during the twentieth?
Sir Frederic Leighton, Bath of Psyche
Removing nearly all references to myth, Leighton focuses on the beauty of the nude and harmonious colors.