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Painting in 4 dimensions: Renaissance Passions
In yesterday’s article, I looked at the narrative techniques used by the three fifteenth century artists who painted the superb frescoes in the Brancacci Chapel. They were telling relatively short and...
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Faithful Friends: Cats in paintings
In many households of the past, domestic animals which shared living space with humans included everything from chickens to cattle, but the most faithful companions have been cats and dogs. This...
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Faithful Friends: Dogs in paintings
Yesterday’s article showing a selection of paintings including cats confirmed their aloof independence. Dogs are dependent on their master or mistress, and love above all else to please them. While the...
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Benjamin West and Modern History 3
Following his success with The Death of General Wolfe in 1770, the American painter of modern history Benjamin West (1738–1820) enjoyed mixed fortunes over the next decade. His appointment as painter...
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Orlando Furioso: To the moon and back, and settling scores
Astolfo flew on the hippogriff to Senapo, the Emperor of Ethiopia, who begged the prince to rid him of a flock of harpies who had been preventing the emperor from eating. Astolfo’s magic horn quickly...
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Raphael and Painting: 4 First frescoes in Rome
Just as the young Raphael was developing his mature style of painting in 1508, he was summoned by Pope Julius II to paint for him in Rome. This was the career move which transformed Raphael’s personal...
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Félicien Rops: The Irreverent Symbolist 1
This week’s Symbolist artist is the notorious Félicien Rops (1833–1898), who shocked the public during the last couple of decades of the nineteenth century with his irreverent and often explicitly...
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Félicien Rops: The Irreverent Symbolist 2
In the first of these two articles about the Symbolist draftsman, printmaker and painter Félicien Rops (1833–1898), I looked at his career and work up to 1878, when he started to concentrate more on...
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Where? Maps and charts in paintings 1
Painters often paint works which show other paintings, sometimes in tribute to their favourite artists, occasionally even as self-promotion. But it’s more unusual to see a map, chart or similar in a...
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Where? Maps and charts in paintings 2
In the first of these two articles, I showed examples of paintings which are maps, or included maps, charts or globes. These culminated in several of Vermeer’s paintings and their highly detailed...
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Benjamin West and Modern History 4
Through the 1780s, Benjamin West had painted a succession of classical history paintings for King George III, and some fine religious works, but seemed to have abandoned his ambition to be a ‘modern’...
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Orlando Furioso: Twins discovered, and a misogynist unseated
Bradamante had convinced herself that her lover Ruggiero had been unfaithful to her, and was going to marry Marfisa instead, so left in quest of him. After she defeated Rodomonte and liberated those he...
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Raphael and Painting: 5 Roman portraits and Madonnas
Shortly after his arrival in Rome in 1508, the young Raphael was hard at work on his first stanza of frescoes for the Pope, which he completed by 1511. By the time that he had finished those of the...
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The demons and stories of Mikhail Vrubel 1
The most difficult task in studying Symbolism is working out who is a Symbolist artist. There’s no shortage of choice of different criteria, but each has the same problems: many artists who are today...
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The demons and stories of Mikhail Vrubel 2
By 1896, the major Russian artist Mikhail Vrubel (1856–1910) had established his distinctive style in paintings of motifs which were mainly based on literary narratives, most recently in at least two...
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Calling the Tune: patrons, donors and dealers in paintings 1
Like any art, paintings aren’t created in isolation, in some sort of idealistic vacuum in which the artist simply creates whatever they want. For a start, the great majority of paintings are created...
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Calling the Tune: patrons, donors and dealers in paintings 2
This is the second of two articles introducing a new series in which I’m going to look at the vital relationship between painters and their patrons, donors, dealers and others involved in the purchase...
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Benjamin West and Modern History 5
Britain was in crisis by the time that war with the French was declared in 1803, and the American painter Benjamin West (1738–1820) turned sixty-five. Although by then he had become the second...
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Orlando Furioso: Duel and disaster
After Astolfo had recovered Orlando’s wits from the moon, he took a magic herb to Senapo, Emperor of Ethiopia, which restored the ruler’s sight. The emperor rewarded Astolfo with many troops with which...
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Raphael and Painting: 6 Stanze and Sibyls
By 1511, Raphael was completing his first room, or stanza, for Pope Julius II, and was commissioned to paint the second, known now as the Stanza d’Eliodoro, ‘the room of Heliodorus’. In addition to its...
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