What the average public knows about nineteenth century art is only a small fraction of its extensive reality. Ask someone what was the most popular art movement of the late nineteenth century, and most would respond French Impressionism, completely dismissing the popular and simultaneous art movements of the Pre-Raphaelites, the Barbizons, the Neo-Classicists, the Naturalists, Art Nouveau, and the Symbolists. And what does the average public know about the painter and sculptor, Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824–1904) who started out as a Neo-grecist and ended up as a Realist and an Orientalist?

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