The Romantics
Portrait of William Blake (1807) by Thomas Phillips, in the National Portrait Gallery, London, William Blake, General
The early 19C Romantic era of painting
The Romantics felt the Classically-minded Renaissance and Baroque had got it wrong and that the Gothic Middle Ages was the place to be.
They idealized the Romantic tales of chivalry, had a deep respect for nature, human rights, and the nobility of peasantry, and a suspicion of progress.
Their paintings tended to be heroic, historic, dramatic, and beautiful.
They were inspired by critic and art theorist John Rushkin, who traveled throughout Northern Italy and was among the first to sing the praises of pre-Renaissance painting and Gothic architecture.
The style gave rise later in the 19C to an interesting offshoot that called itself the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.
