Date

Cultural Events

Political Events and Social Legislation

1858

Ruskin destroys erotic drawings by JMW Turner, bequeathed to the nation as part of the Turner Bequest

British declare peace in India.
Lord Palmerston becomes Prime Minister

1859

Publication of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species By Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life

Suez Canal begun

1860

Guiseppe Fiorelli excavates Pompeii using plaster to preserve the shapes of the bodies discovered in volcanic ash

1861

Death of Prince Albert.
American Civil War begins (1861-5)

1862

International Exhibition at South Kensington, London.; John Gibson's sculpture the Tinted Venus causes a stir and Ingres' La Source proves a revelation to English critics and painters

1866

Jean Leon Gerome's Phryne Before the Tribunal is seen in London at the French Gallery on Pall Mall

1867

The Dudley Gallery opens as an alternative exhibiting venue to the Royal Academy; Simeon Solomon is among the exhibitors.
Frederic Leighton's Venus Disrobing causes a sensation at the RA, inaugurating a revival of the nude in Britain.
International Exhibition in Paris

1868

William Gladstone becomes Prime Minister

1869

The first Royal Academy Summer exhibition is held in the new galleries at Burlington House, Piccadilly

1870

The exhibition at the Royal Academy of John Everett Millais's first and only experiment with the female nude, The Knight Errant, initiates a debate about the propriety of the nude model

1871

The publication of Charles Darwin's The Descent of Man and Selection in relation to Sex.
The Slade School of Art opens as an alternative to the Royal Academy Schools; Edward Poynter is made first
Professor; study from the life model is emphasised and women are permitted to study from the partially-draped model in a separate class

1874

Excavation of Venus Esquilina, Rome.

Benjamin Disraeli becomes Prime Minister

1876

Customs Consolidation Act passed to legislate against the importation of obscene materials

1877

The Chantrey Bequest is begun and
Frederic Leighton's large bronze sculpture
An Athlete Wrestling with a Python, exhibited at the RA, is the first purchase for the nation

Queen Victoria proclaimed Empress of India at a ceremony in Delhi