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The Faerie Queene 21: Two tyrants overthrown, and order restored
In the last episode, after removing the threat posed by the Souldan, Sir Artegall and Prince Arthur reached Queen Mercilla’s palace, where they gave their verdict in the trial of the evil sorceress...
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Painting within Tent: Biard’s gripping tales
Very few full-time painters have built their reputation on their depictions of the exploration of remote and hostile lands. One of the earliest to do so was François-Auguste Biard (1799–1882), who shot...
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The Painter of the Moment, Eugène Lepoittevin
In yesterday’s article about François-Auguste Biard, I showed a painting by today’s artist, Eugène Lepoittevin (1806-1870). What better excuse than to look at some more of his works, and uncover...
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Étretat, cradle of Impressionism 1 Before 1880
The north coast of France played an important role in European art history, particularly in the nineteenth century. When Claude Monet was four, he and his family moved from Paris to live in Le Havre,...
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Étretat, cradle of Impressionism 2 Monet and after
Among the milestones of Impressionism, indeed of Western landscape painting, are the great series paintings made by Claude Monet in the 1890s, particularly his Grainstacks (sometimes known inaccurately...
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God of the Week: Asclepius (Aesculapius)
Asclepius (Greek Ἀσκληπιός) is the god of medicine and the healing arts, also known by various respellings such as Aesculapius, although strictly his Latin equivalent is more likely to be Vejovis or...
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A History of Rome in Paintings: 23 Aesculapius comes to town
There’s only one island in the River Tiber where it runs through the city of Rome: Tiber Island. In the classical city, it’s just to the south-west of the Capitoline Hill, and not far from the Forum...
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The Faerie Queene 22: Sir Calidore, courtesy, and the Blatant Beast
The last episode completed The Legend of Artegall, or Of Justice, so reaching the end of the fifth book of The Faerie Queene. This episode starts the sixth book, which is The Legend of Sir Calidore, or...
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Painting within Tent: Penguins by Edward Adrian Wilson
Expeditions to the most remote places rely on a small team with many talents. When Edward Adrian Wilson (1872–1912) went to the Antarctic he was first and foremost a physician, secondly a zoologist and...
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Odoardo Borrani’s histories and landscapes
Well before the French Impressionists there were other movements with similar objectives, most of which have been long forgotten. The only one which has been retained in the history of painting as...
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Late Great Masters: 1 Rembrandt and Turner
Earlier this month, I looked at debut paintings in a New Year quiz, and the brilliance of some artists who died far too early in their careers. This weekend I’m redressing the balance by focussing on...
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Late Great Masters: 2 Courbet, Cézanne, Hodler, Signac
Yesterday’s article looked at how the late paintings of Rembrandt and JMW Turner became more radical, bringing their careers to an end with a succession of paintings which were of enduring importance,...
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Goddess of the Week: Bellona (Enyo), War
Bellona is another mainly Roman goddess, this time of war, whose temple in Rome took pride of place on the Campus Martius – appropriately the ‘field of Mars’. Her origins are Sabine, the Romans...
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A History of Rome in Paintings: 24 The Senate
From its earliest days, through the period of kings, the republic and empire, the Roman Senate was its central and most enduring institution. According to legend, once the building of the first city...
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The Faerie Queene 23: The healing hermit, and Turpine corrected
In the last episode, Calepine’s lady, Serena, had been badly wounded by the Blatant Beast. While Sir Calidor rode off in its pursuit, Calepine sought aid in Sir Turpine’s castle, but was refused and...
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Painting within Tent: Icefast on the coast of Greenland
There hasn’t been another expedition like it, sponsored in full by a banker who wanted to add unusual paintings to his art collection. But in 1869, LeGrand Lockwood, a railroad and banking magnate in...
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Léon Bakst, artist to the Ballets Russes
In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, many talented and successful artists painted and designed for theatres, operas and ballets, which flourished across Europe and North America. Among...
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Paintings in a Country Churchyard 1
In the more rural parts of Europe, at least until well into the twentieth century, the village church and its churchyard were the centre of the community. This weekend I look at what went on in those...
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Paintings in a Country Churchyard 2
In the first of these two articles featuring paintings of country churchyards, I showed examples of their roles in everyday life, as used by William Hogarth, through their use in Romantic horror, to...
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Goddess of the Week: Hemera (Dies), the Day
Not as popular in art as her mother Nyx, Hemera (Greek Ἡμέρα) was her complement, being the personification of the Day. The Romans knew her as Dies, the Latin noun for day, but in neither of the...
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