'Narrative Painting in Nineteenth-Century Europe provides a new lens through which to appreciatively view works that might not have previously seemed worthy of close analysis. It reveals the impressive ingenuity with which artists and critics of the second half of the nineteenth century sought to bring pleasure to viewers and readers hungering for engaging stories. Given that pleasure is not prominent in the earnest academic discourse of the early twenty-first century, it is refreshing to see its pursuit treated as a legitimate topic of research. This is one more reason to be grateful for Nina Lübbren’s well-crafted book.'Nineteenth-Century Art Worldwide, Volume 22, Issue 2 | Autumn 2023, Jonathan P. Ribner'The real achievement of Lübbren’s study, allows us to see narrative painting with fresh eyes, while avoiding the tendentious special pleading that so often accompanies re-readings of neglected art from the period. Thanks to her research, we can now begin to tell a new story about an important, and unjustly overlooked, aspect of nineteenth-century European painting'The Burlington Magazine
