In the history of art, the theme of beauty for beauty's sake emerged as a significant movement in the 19th century, notably embodied by the Aestheticism movement and the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. This period marked a shift from artworks laden with moral, religious, or allegorical narratives, to those that celebrated pure beauty as their primary purpose.

The Pre-Raphaelites, a group of English painters, poets, and critics founded in 1848, were among the early pioneers in emphasizing the intrinsic beauty of their subjects. They sought to return to the abundant detail, intense colors, and complex compositions of Quattrocento Italian art. Artists like Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Everett Millais, and William Holman Hunt produced works that reveled in natural beauty and sensuous detail, often featuring mythological and medieval subjects rendered in a style notable for its vivid color and intricate ornamentation.

Parallel to the Pre-Raphaelites, the Aestheticism movement, which flourished in the late 19th century, posited that art should exist for its beauty alone without any didactic or moral purpose. This philosophy was epitomized by the famous slogan "art for art's sake." Artists associated with this movement, like James Abbott McNeill Whistler and Albert Moore, created works that were primarily concerned with form and color, often eschewing traditional narrative content. Whistler's "Nocturne" series, for instance, exemplifies this approach, where the mood and harmony of color and line take precedence over subject matter or narrative.

This focus on beauty alone marked a significant departure from the dominant artistic conventions of the time, where art was often a vehicle for moral or instructional messages. Instead, the Aestheticism and Pre-Raphaelite movements highlighted the sensory and emotional experience of art, encouraging the viewer to immerse themselves in the sheer visual pleasure of the artwork.

The impact of these movements was profound, influencing the development of various modern art forms and continuing to inspire artists who seek to capture the ephemeral and transcendent qualities of beauty in their work.