Victorian Art
During the the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901), a distinctive style of art emerged. Known as Victorian art, it reflected the idea that the role of art was to reflect the world, not to idealize it. Victorian art was characterized by accuracy and attention to detail, often painted directly from nature. These artists of the Victorian era reflected some of the same artistic ideas as the writers of the period

Portrait of a Woman in Gray, c. 1865, Edgar Degas
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Edwin C. Vogel, 1957 (57.171)
Image © The Metropolitan Museum of Art; used with permission.
www.metmuseum.org

Dancer, c. 1880, Edgar Degas
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Walter H. and Leonore Annenberg Collection, Gift of Walter H. and Leonore Annenberg, 2001, Bequest of Walter H. Annenberg, 2002 (2001.202.2)
Image © The Metropolitan Museum of Art; used with permission.
www.metmuseum.org

Ophelia (from Shakespeare’s Hamlet) by John Everett Millais, 1851–1852. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.