1. The Accolade by Edmund Leighton (1901) Edmund Leighton was a master painter of the Middle Ages who loved to tell thoroughly romanticised miniature stories based on some important element of Medieval life. In this case the moment of knighthood.
2. Godspeed! by Edmund Leighton (1900) What seemed to interest Leighton above all was, indeed, romance — knights and maidens. And he delighted in details, carefully painting every glittering link of chainmail and every sumptuous thread of embroidered gowns.
3. Knight at the Crossroads by Viktor Vasnetsov (1882) For something completely different there is Vasnetsov's famous, mysterious, sombre painting of a knight contemplating a gravestone. More realistic? Or is this, instead, a sort of dark rather than romantic Medieval fantasy?
4. Jacques Molay Conquers Jerusalem by Claude Jacquand (1846) The Crusades were, unsurprisingly, a popular subject in Neo-Medieval art. Here Jacques Molay, the last Grand Master of the Knights Templar, captures Jerusalem... even though he never did — this was a French myth.
5. The First Meeting of Petrarch and Laura by Marie Stillman (1889) The fabulous, underrated Stillman shows us the famous Florentine poet Petrarch meeting his muse Laura in the early 14th century. Notice, in particular, Stillman's glorious evocation of Gothic architecture.
6. Dante and Beatrice by Henry Holiday (1883) Dante, like Petrarch, features frequently in portrayals of the Middle Ages — he was, after all, the greatest Medieval poet. Here we see him in his usual outfit and, passing by without looking at him, the love of his life, Beatrice.
7. Tristan and Isolde by John William Waterhouse (1916) The legend of Tristan and Isolde (the basis of Richard Wagner's opera), originally from the 12th century, was one of the most popular stories in the Middle Ages. Dramatically, vividly, lavishly painted by Waterhouse.
8. The Lady of Shalott by John William Waterhouse (1888) Another literary painting by Waterhouse, and among the most famous works of 19th century Neo-Medieval art. The Lady of Shalott is a poem by Tennyson, written in 1832 and based on a 13th century Italian tale.
9. Joan of Arc Kissing the Sword of Deliverance by Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1863) Rossetti was the leader of the Pre-Raphaelites, a British movement which tried to cast off the influence of the Renaissance and return art to the vividity, colour, and detail of the Middle Ages.
10. The Vision to the Youth Bartholomew by Mikhail Nesterov (1890) The first in a series of paintings about Saint Sergius of Radonezh (who later took the name Bartholomew) by Nesterov, whose style somehow mixed realism with an allusive sense of mystery, magic, and wonder.