Victorian Illustration Coloring Pages
Welcome to my Victorian Illustration coloring pages section.
Queen Victoria ruled Britain from 1837 to 1901, and the artists of her time drew in fine pen and ink, filling every picture with tiny lines, textures and flowers. Printers cut those drawings into wood blocks so they could print thousands of copies, which is why so many Victorian pictures look like they're made of hundreds of little scratches.
Jump to: Illustrators | Nativity | Christmas | More Illustrations | Cameos | Art Nouveau
Victorian Illustrators
Victorian picture books got their look from a handful of artists who drew for children. Kate Greenaway filled her pages with children in bonnets and long, frilly dresses, and she was so popular that real children's clothes were made to match. Randolph Caldecott drew country scenes full of running dogs, cows and laughing farm boys, and the Caldecott Medal for picture books is named after him. John Tenniel drew the original pictures for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland in 1865, using fine crosshatched lines like the ones on this Cheshire Cat.
Alice in Wonderland coloring pages
Victorian Nativity
Victorian Christmas cards showed everyone as soft-cheeked, curly-haired children, even Mary and the angels, and the nativity scenes in this style follow that look. A lamb, a donkey and a heap of very detailed hay crowd in around the manger.
Victorian Christmas
The first Christmas card was printed in England in 1843, and within a few years everybody was sending them. A picture of Queen Victoria's family around a decorated tree, published in 1848, made Christmas trees popular in Britain and America, so holly, trees and gifts turned up in lots of Victorian Christmas pictures.
More Victorian Illustrations
Victorian illustrators drew animals just as carefully as people. When a hippo named Obaysch arrived at London Zoo in 1850, he was the first one seen in Europe in centuries, and crowds lined up to meet him. Thanksgiving also became a national holiday in the United States in 1863, during Queen Victoria's reign, so a Victorian pilgrim fits right in.
Victorian Cameos
A cameo is a tiny carved portrait, usually a profile in an oval, with the figure raised up from a background of a different color. Victorians wore them as brooches and pendants, and carved them from shell or stone.
Where Art Went Next
Walter Crane illustrated children's picture books for the Victorians, and his flat, patterned designs and flowing flowers helped inspire the next big style. Art Nouveau was already spreading across posters and buildings as Queen Victoria's reign came to an end in 1901.