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Goddesses of the Week: Graiai and Gorgons
Among many other murky and rarely painted descendants of primordial deities are two groups of three sisters: the Graiai (Greek Γραῖαι) or Graeae (Latin), and the Gorgons. They both appear in the myth...
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Paradise Lost: Book 11 in paintings and illustrations
In the tenth book: God fortels the final victory of his Son over them, and the renewing of all things; but for the present commands his Angels to make several alterations in the heavens and elements....
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The Art of Anders Zorn 3: Switching to oils
In the 1880s, the great Swedish watercolourist Anders Zorn (1860–1920) doesn’t seem to have spent a full year in any one place. In 1887, he spent the summer back in Sweden while simultaneously...
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Skying 2: The open sky
In Northern Europe, seventeenth century landscape painting had been most innovative in the Low Countries, where skies came to dominate many views of flat terrain. In the south, the idealised and...
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Nicholas Chevalier: Painter of Record 1
We like to think that we’re more global than ever before, but many in the nineteenth century got around just as much as we do today. They may not have travelled as quickly, but the world was their...
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Whiskers: beards in paintings 1
A couple of weeks ago, I finally had my beard trimmed. It’s been something of a fixture for the last thirty-eight years, as the last time I shaved was the night before D-Day in the Falklands Conflict,...
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Whiskers: beards in paintings 2
In the first article of these two about beards and other facial hair in paintings, I looked at the good – classical and Christian gods, the learned, and artists and their circles. Here I conclude with...
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Goddess of the Week: Hecate
Hecate (Greek Ἑκάτη, Hekate, by which she was also known to the Romans) is another murky deity from the early days of the ancient Greek theogony. By Hesiod’s account she is the daughter of Perses and...
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Paradise Lost: Book 12 in paintings and illustrations
In the eleventh book: The Son of God presents to his Father the prayers of our first parents now repenting, and intercedes for them. God accepts them, but declares that they must no longer abide in...
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The Art of Anders Zorn 4: High life and low life
In 1890, the Zorns had continued to travel extensively, reaching North Cape at the northern tip of Europe in the summer, then at the end of the year visiting Germany. In Paris, Anders Zorn (1860–1920)...
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Skying 3: John Constable
Like Valenciennes before him, the British landscape master John Constable (1776–1837) started skying (his term) to produce studies which he could then use when composing finished paintings. Although he...
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Nicholas Chevalier: Painter of Record 2
In his early career, the Swiss-Russian-British artist Nicholas Chevalier (1828-1902) painted many fine landscapes of Australia and New Zealand. At the end of his visit, he returned to Britain with the...
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Dust to dust: Paintings of funerals 1
Western paintings are never shy of showing death, but with the notable exception of the rites which followed Christ’s crucifixion, seldom intrude on funerals, at least until recently. Wherever you have...
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Dust to dust: Paintings of funerals 2
In the first of these two articles, I showed Courbet’s huge masterpiece A Burial at Ornans (1849-50). One of the most influential paintings of the nineteenth century, historical events delayed others...
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Goddess of the Week: Leto (Latona), mother of Apollo and Artemis
Now almost forgotten among the Classical deities, Leto (Greek Λητώ, Roman Latona) previously appeared quite extensively in art, almost entirely in her role as the mother of Apollo and Artemis (Diana)....
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Paradise Lost: Summary and Contents
A summary, in Milton’s own words, of his epic Paradise Lost, with some of the finest paintings and illustrations, and links to each article in this series. Henry Fuseli (1741–1825), The Shepherd’s...
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The Art of Anders Zorn 5: Portraits and prints
In the mid-1890s, Anders Zorn (1860–1920) had made a big impression in the USA, and had made friends with the eccentric patron Isabella Stewart Gardner, staying with the Gardners in their home in...
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Skying 4: JMW Turner
As you might expect, JMW Turner’s approach to skies was quite different to that of his great rival John Constable. I can find no record of Turner engaging in skying in the way that Constable did in the...
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The Wanderer in paintings 1
Wanderers, wayfarers, pilgrims have all walked through the countryside, over mountain passes, and moved as they wish. Some have sought wisdom or spiritual enrichment, others just a bite to eat and...
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The Wanderer in paintings 2
In the first article of these three examining the Wanderer theme, including wayfarers and pilgrims, in paintings, I looked at its origins from Hieronymus Bosch, its development in Romantic landscapes,...
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