Dante Gabriel Rosetti (1828-1882) Proserpine |
Victorian painting: "I
mean by a picture a beautiful romantic dream, of something that never
was, never will be – in a light better than any light that ever shone
– in a land which no one can define, or remember, only desire" - Anon.
Victorian
painting is the subject of the current exhibition in the foyer of the
JS Gericke Library. A number of the Library Service's most attractive books
on this subject are on display, depicting the highly detailed,
moralistic, romantic, languid, morbid painting of the era.
Victorian
painting, however, covers much more than the wistful
maidens and knights in armour seen on the displayed pages. Victorian
painters turned for inspiration to what they saw around them and were
influenced by the romance of medieval chivalry, religion, literature
and also contemporary Victorian society. They also incorporated visual
clues in their pictures for the public to seek out and interpret, and
they often illustrated the social issues of the day.
The exhibition
can be viewed in the display cabinets in front of the Interlending
Section of the JS Gericke Library.
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