![](/template/termwiki/images/likesmall.jpg)
Home > Terms > English (EN) > olympians
olympians
Term often used to describe certain Victorian artists, notably Alma-Tadema, Leighton, Poynter and Watts, whose work emphasised the classical in both style and subject matter. In ancient Greek mythology Mount Olympus in Greece was the home of the ancient gods, and the name refers both to the classicism of these artists and their huge success and dominance of the art of their time. Leighton in particular achieved almost god-like status. He was hugely handsome and an athlete, but also an intellectual; he became president of the Royal Academy in 1879, was created a baronet in 1886, and was elevated to the peerage, becoming Lord Leighton, just before his death in 1896. Alma-Tadema and Poynter were knighted and Watts was awarded the Order of Merit. A crucial source of inspiration for the Olympians was the so-called Elgin Marbles—the ancient Greek sculptures from the Parthenon in Athens brought to London by the Earl of Elgin in 1807 and housed in the British Museum from 1816.
- Part of Speech: noun
- Synonym(s):
- Blossary:
- Industry/Domain: Art history
- Category: General art history
- Company: Tate
- Product:
- Acronym-Abbreviation:
Other Languages:
Member comments
Terms in the News
Billy Morgan
Sports; Snowboarding
The British snowboarder Billy Morgan has landed the sport’s first ever 1800 quadruple cork. The rider, who represented Great Britain in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, was in Livigno, Italy, when he achieved the man-oeuvre. It involves flipping four times, while body also spins with five complete rotations on a sideways or downward-facing axis. The trick ...
Marzieh Afkham
Broadcasting & receiving; News
Marzieh Afkham, who is the country’s first foreign ministry spokeswoman, will head a mission in east Asia, the state news agency reported. It is not clear to which country she will be posted as her appointment has yet to be announced officially. Afkham will only be the second female ambassador Iran has had. Under the last shah’s rule, Mehrangiz Dolatshahi, a ...
Weekly Packet
Language; Online services; Slang; Internet
Weekly Packet or "Paquete Semanal" as it is known in Cuba is a term used by Cubans to describe the information that is gathered from the internet outside of Cuba and saved onto hard drives to be transported into Cuba itself. Weekly Packets are then sold to Cuban's without internet access, allowing them to obtain information just days - and sometimes hours - after it ...
Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)
Banking; Investment banking
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is an international financial institution established to address the need in Asia for infrastructure development. According to the Asian Development Bank, Asia needs $800 billion each year for roads, ports, power plants or other infrastructure projects before 2020. Originally proposed by China in 2013, a signing ...
Spartan
Online services; Internet
Spartan is the codename given to the new Microsoft Windows 10 browser that will replace Microsoft Windows Internet Explorer. The new browser will be built from the ground up and disregard any code from the IE platform. It has a new rendering engine that is built to be compatible with how the web is written today. The name Spartan is named after the ...
Featured Terms
Virgin MiFi
Virgin Mobile USA is about to launch their first MiFi device which will use Sprint’s EVDO Rev. A network, and share the same 3G connection with up to ...
Contributor
Featured blossaries
Browers Terms By Category
- Fiction(910)
- General literature(746)
- Poetry(598)
- Chilldren's literature(212)
- Bestsellers(135)
- Novels(127)
Literature(3109) Terms
- Printers(127)
- Fax machines(71)
- Copiers(48)
- Office supplies(22)
- Scanners(9)
- Projectors(3)
Office equipment(281) Terms
- Physical geography(2496)
- Geography(671)
- Cities & towns(554)
- Countries & Territories(515)
- Capitals(283)
- Human geography(103)
Geography(4630) Terms
- General astronomy(781)
- Astronaut(371)
- Planetary science(355)
- Moon(121)
- Comets(101)
- Mars(69)
Astronomy(1901) Terms
- Aeronautics(5992)
- Air traffic control(1257)
- Airport(1242)
- Aircraft(949)
- Aircraft maintenance(888)
- Powerplant(616)