Images

Sappho and Alcaeus, oil on panel by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, 1881. The painting illustrates a passage by the ancient Greek poet Hermesianax (active c. 330 BCE) depicting a scene on the island of Lesbos (Mytilene) during the late 7th century...

The Lady of Shalott, oil on canvas by John William Waterhouse, 1888. It depicts the following lines of Tennyson's poem The Lady of Shalott: And down the river's dim expanse Like some bold seer in a trance, Seeing all his own mischance...

Dancing Scene in the Caribbean, oil on canvas by Agostino Brunias, sometime between 1764 and 1796. The painting depicts men and women of African descent dancing on a Caribbean island, most likely St. Vincent or Dominica, where the Italian-born...

Mark Lester as Oliver Twist in a scene in the workhouse from Oliver!, a 1968 musical adaptation of Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens (1812-70). The story of Oliver Twist, first serialised in 1837, highlighted the plight of poor children in...

An 1834 oil on canvas portrait by William Henry Brooke (1772-1860) of the industrialist Robert Owen (1771-1858) who rose from the position of a lowly apprentice to become a great mill owner during the Industrial Revolution. (National Portrait...

A 1788 oil on canvas painting, The Age of Innocence, by Joshua Reynolds (1723-92). The painting reflected a wider movement in the arts where artists were concerned with capturing the innocence of childhood, something which had been threatened...

Bonaparte before the Sphinx, oil on canvas by Jean-Léon Gérôme, 1886. Hearst Castle collection.

Gypsy Family, oil on canvas by Mihály Munkácsy, 1884. Private collection.

Battle of Mount Tabor between the French and the Ottoman Empire, 16 April 1799 during Napoleon's Campaign in Egypt and Syria; the battle resulted in a French victory, although the French would subsequently lose the Siege of Acre. Painting...

The revolt in Cairo against French occupation, 21 October 1798. Painting by Anne-Louis Girodet-Trioson, 1810. Palace of Versailles.