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Mark of the Unicorn in paintings 2
In yesterday’s article, I showed examples of early modern visual art in which unicorns featured, up to the middle of the sixteenth century. That was a period in which most well-educated people believed...
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Dealers and painters: Durand-Ruel the architect of Impressionism
When asked who shaped Impressionism, I’m sure you’ll rattle off the names of artists like Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir, Camille Pissarro, maybe even some of their precursors like Eugène Boudin or Johan...
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Gods and goddesses of the week, a new series
Reading paintings isn’t always easy, and one of the most common problems involved is identifying gods and goddesses from classical mythology. Changing society, culture and education during the last two...
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Orlando Furioso: Jailbreak and a deceptive duel
Ruggiero’s fiancée Bradamante has been promised by her parents to Prince Leon of Greece. In a bid to prevent her from marrying anyone else, Ruggiero has travelled to Belgrade, where he leads Bulgar...
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Goddess of the Week: Nyx (Night)
Now usually thought of as a personification rather than a goddess, Nyx or Night is one of the first well-known goddesses to emerge from the primordial Chaos (or Chasm, as the original Greek name refers...
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Animal Sentiments: In memoriam Briton Rivière 1
On Monday, it will be exactly one century since the death of the highly popular Victorian animal painter Briton Rivière (1840-1920). In today’s and Monday’s articles, I show a selection of his...
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Magic Carpet: Carpets in paintings 1
This weekend, I’m rolling out the carpet, red and otherwise, to look at an aspect of painting which is all too often hidden in the gloom: carpets and floor coverings. Although they have a long history...
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Magic Carpet: Carpets in paintings 2
In the first of these two articles looking at carpets and other floor coverings in European paintings, I covered the period to 1881, during which the vast majority of floors remained bare stone or...
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Animal Sentiments: In memoriam Briton Rivière 2
A hundred years ago today, the celebrated Victorian painter Briton Rivière (1840-1920) died. In the first of these two articles commemorating his death, I looked at his training, career and a selection...
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Orlando Furioso: A wedding interrupted
Bradamante’s parents had arranged her marriage to Prince Leon, but she and Charlemagne’s paladins want her to marry Ruggiero. After a series of misadventures Ruggiero, posing as Leon, fought Bradamante...
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God of the week: Thanatos (Death)
One of the first deities to emerge from primordial Chaos of the origin of the classical universe was Nyx, the goddess of Night. Among her many children were twins, Thanatos (Death) and Hypnos (Sleep)....
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Symphonic visions – paintings of Mikalojus Čiurlionis 1
It’s not uncommon to associate different creative modalties at times, such as specific music tracks or passages with certain paintings, but very few of us are truly synaesthetic. This week’s Symbolist...
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Symphonic visions – paintings of Mikalojus Čiurlionis 2
In this second article about the Lithuanian composer and painter Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis (1875-1911) I look at just one of his series of paintings: The Creation of the World, which consists...
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Wedding Paintings 1: Classics
This is the time of year – in the northern hemisphere at least – for weddings. Although few of us, I hope, get married every Spring, there’s usually a friend or two or relatives who generously invite...
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Wedding Paintings 2: Other stories
In yesterday’s collection of paintings of weddings, I looked at the three weddings of classical myth which brought catastrophe. The good news in the New Testament is that is put behind us, and wedding...
View ArticleAccessing this blog – news feeds and pages
Several people have asked me recently how they can get more specific news feeds for this blog, and can access other information here more readily. With over 5,000 articles available, and more than 70...
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Wedding Paintings 3: Others
In the first article in this series, I looked at three famous and disastrous weddings from classical mythology; the second looked at others drawn from literary sources; this third and final article...
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Orlando Furioso: Plot summary and best paintings 1
In this and the next article, I summarise the multiple interwoven plots of Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso, which starts its story at the end of Orlando in Love, by Matteo Maria Boiardo. Links are to the...
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Orlando Furioso: Plot summary and best paintings 2
At the end of the first of these two plot summaries of Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso, Marfisa and the others had escaped from the land ruled by women to Marseilles, leaving Astolfo wondering where they’d...
View ArticleLooking for a long read and fine art? Eight classic books with paintings
How can you read a painting which refers to myth or literary narrative without being familiar with the story or book? Over the last four years or so I have collected thousands of images of paintings...
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