The mythical poses may seem now a tad too melodramatic, but the incisive thoughtful portraits of real people make for an informative and captivating exhibition. Victorian Giants: The Birth of Art ...

The Ghost in the Stereoscope, hand-colored card, photographer unknown, 1856, London Stereoscopic Co. [Photo: Met Museum Collection] On another card, That’s Too Thin, a ghost points an accusatory ...

By Perhols, CC BY 2.5, The post 35 stunning 19th-century portraits of people and their beloved dogs appeared first on Boing Boing.

THESE exquisite and intricate plant portraits by photographer William Arnold are a nod to the Victorian era of botany, as well as to the rural beauty tucked away in English hedgerows and kerbsides.

But you might not have realized how crazy the Victorians were about headless portraits. They literally lost their heads over this trend. Check out the absolute creepiest examples below.

For instance the great Victorian scientist (and co-inventor of photography) John Herschel may be more recognizable today for Cameron's portraits than for his once-eminent name.

Eminent Victorians By A.N. Wilson Norton, 240 pages, $25 Lytton Strachey, author of the original ”Eminent Victorians,” came to bury the Victorians, not to praise them. He succeeded bril… ...

Children’s Books: Lives of Art and Inspiration Illustrated biographies about Henri Matisse, a Victorian portrait photographer and the inventor of the Ferris wheel. Share Resize ...