The Classical Revival in Victorian Painting

This course investigates how Victorian artists saw in ancient Greece and Rome, a reflection of their own Empire. The works of Lord Leighton, Alma-Tadema, Poynter, Waterhouse and others reflected a nostalgic and idyllic attitude to Empire. These pictures were also seen as an acceptable vehicle for the representation of sensuous nudes of both sexes, as they were framed within idealised classical scenes.

The course examines how the work of these painters, rather than expressing a realistic view of classical culture was, in fact, a representation of very Victorian attitudes and ideas.