This is an index of the 91 well-known stories and narratives which are covered in articles about narrative painting on this blog. These are arranged in alphabetical order, and for each gives the type of narrative and its origin, then links to the paintings featured in articles here. I am also preparing illustrated indexes: because these are so large, I am going to divide them into subject area, e.g. classical mythology, Biblical, etc.
Achilles and Agamemnon (Greek tragedy, Euripides, Iphigenia at Aulis, retold by Racine) David, The Anger of Achilles (1819)
American Werewolf in London, An (comedy horror movie, 1981) Wright, Woman Surprised by a Werewolf (2008)
Androcles and the Lion (Roman tale, Aulus Gellius, widespread in Europe) Gérôme, Androcles (c 1902)
Angelica and Medoro (epic poetry, Ariosto, Orlando Furioso, 1516) Delacroix, Angelica and the Wounded Medoro (c 1860)
Antiochus and Stratonice (Classical history, Plutarch, Lives) David, Antiochus and Stratonica (1774)
Bathsheba and King David (Biblical, Old Testament) Rembrandt, Bathsheba with King David’s Letter (1654) Gérôme, Bathsheba (1889/95)
Belle Dame Sans Merci, La (poem, John Keats, La Belle Dame Sans Merci, 1819) Crane, La Belle Dame Sans Merci (1865)
Belshazzar’s Feast (Biblical, Old Testament) Rembrandt, Belshazzar’s Feast (c 1635-1638); Martin, Belshazzar’s Feast (1820); Allston, Belshazzar’s Feast (1817/1843)
Benaiah (Biblical, Old Testament, Samuel II) Etty, Benaiah (small copy) (1829)
Britomart (epic poem, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene) Etty, Britomart Redeems Faire Amoret (1833) Crane, Britomart (1900)
Brutus, execution of sons (Roman history, c 509 BCE) David, The Lictors Bring to Brutus the Bodies of His Sons (1789)
Candaules, King of Lydia (shows wife to Gyges) (Classical history, Herodotus) Etty, Candaules, King of Lydia, Shews his Wife by Stealth to Gyges, One of his Ministers, as She Goes to Bed (1830)
Chaucer, The Prioress’s Tale (poetry, Chaucer, Canterbury Tales) Burne-Jones, The Prioress’s Tale (1869-1898)
Chilperic I, murder (French history, 584) Luminais, The Death of Chilperic I (1885)
Chloris/Flora and Zephyrus (Classical myth, Ovid, Fasti book 5) Botticelli, Primavera (Spring) (c 1482)
Christ, Crucifixion (Biblical, New Testament) Gérôme, Golgotha (Consummatum Est, or Jerusalem) (1867)
Christ, Deposition (Biblical, New Testament) Böcklin, The Deposition (1876)
Christ, Entry into Jerusalem (Palm Sunday) (Biblical, New Testament) Doré, Christ’s Entry into Jerusalem (before 1876)
Christ, Feasts – Marriage Feast at Cana, Feast in the House of Simon the Pharisee, Feast in the House of Levi (Biblical, New Testament) Veronese, The Marriage Feast at Cana (1562-3); The Feast in the House of Simon the Pharisee (1570); The Feast in the House of Levi (1573) (also, originally, The Last Supper)
Christ, Supper at Emmaus (Biblical, New Testament) Veronese, The Supper at Emmaus (c 1559)
Christ, The Last Supper (Biblical, New Testament) Veronese, The Last Supper (c 1585)
Cinderella (folk tale, Europe) Burne-Jones, Cinderella (1863); Millais, Cinderella (1881)
Cleopatra and Caesar (Roman history, 47 BCE) Gérôme, Cleopatra before Caesar (1866)
Clovis II, sons of (énervés of Jumièges) (French legend, 660) Luminais, The Sons of Clovis II (1880) (Rouen)
Dante and Virgil (epic poem, Dante Alighieri, Inferno, 14th century) Degas, Dante and Virgil at the Entrance to Hell (1857-8) Doré, Dante and Virgil in the ninth circle of hell (1861)
Diana and Endymion (Classical Greek mythology) Crane, Diana and Endymion (1883)
Dibutades, Maid of Corinth, inventor of painting (Classical legend) Wright of Derby, The Corinthian Maid (c 1782-5)
Diogenes, throwing away his cup (Greek history, c 350 BCE) Poussin, Landscape with Diogenes (1648); Martin, Diogenes Throwing Away His Cup (1833)
Echo and Narcissus (Classical myth, Ovid, Metamorphoses Book 3) Waterhouse, Echo and Narcissus (1903)
Flood (Biblical, Old Testament, Genesis) Martin, The Deluge (1834)
Friday 13th (horror movie, 1980) Doig, Echo Lake (1988); Canoe-Lake (1997-8)
Gradlon, King, and Saint Guénolé, and Dahut (Breton legend) Luminais, Flight of King Gradlon (1884) (Quimper)
Hercules and the Hydra (Greek myth, the Labours of Hercules) Moreau, Hercules and the Lernean Hydra (1876)
Hero and Leander (Greek myth, Musaeus) Turner, The Parting of Hero and Leander (1837) Etty, The Parting of Hero and Leander (1827); Hero, Having Thrown herself from the Tower at the Sight of Leander Drowned, Dies on his Body (1829)
Horatii and Curiatii (Roman legend/history, Livy, Dionysius) David, The Oath of the Horatii (1784-5)
Jael and Sisera – see Judith and Holofernes
Jason and Medea (Classical story, Jason and the Golden Fleece) Moreau, Jason (1865) Waterhouse, Jason and Medea (1907)
John the Baptist and Salome (Biblical, New Testament) Moreau, Salome (1876)
Joshua, commanding the sun at Gibeon (Biblical, Old Testament) Martin, Joshua Commanding the Sun to Stand Still (c 1840)
Judith and Holofernes (Biblical, Old Testament Apocrypha, Judith) Gentileschi, Judith Slaying Holofernes (1611-2, 1620-1); Veronese, Caravaggio, Bigot (also Jael and Sisera) Etty, Study for Judith and Holofernes (c 1827) Doré, Judith and Holofernes (1866) Vernet, Judith and Holofernes (study) (1828/1832)
Julius Caesar, Assassination (Roman history, 44 BCE) Gérôme, The Death of Caesar (1859-67)
Jupiter and Semele (Greek myth, Ovid, Metamorphoses) Moreau, Jupiter and Semele (1895)
Lucretia (Roman history, c 510-507 BCE) Rembrandt, Lucretia (1664, 1666); Veronese, Gentileschi, Kneller
Macbeth (Shakespeare, play, Macbeth) Martin, Macbeth (1820)
Madeline and Porphyro (The Eve of St Agnes) (Poem, John Keats, The Eve of St Agnes, 1819) Hunt, The flight of Madeline and Porphyro during the drunkenness attending the revelry (The Eve of St. Agnes) (study) (1848)
Malade Imaginaire, Le (The Imaginary Invalid, Argan) (play, Molière, Le Malade Imaginaire, 1673) Daumier, Le Malade Imaginaire (The Imaginary Invalid) (c 1860-2)
Manfred (poem, Lord Byron, Manfred: A Dramatic Poem, 1816-7) Martin, Manfred and the Alpine Witch (1837)
Marat, assassination (French history, 1793) David, Marat Assassinated (1793)
Maximilian, Emperor of Mexico, Execution (French history, 1867) Manet, The Execution of Emperor Maximilian of Mexico (1868)
Mazeppa (poem, Lord Byron, Mazeppa, 1819) Vernet, Mazeppa and the Wolves (1826)
Medusa, The Raft of the (French history, 1816) Géricault, The Raft of the Medusa (1818-9)
Merlin and Nimue (Arthurian legend, various re-tellings) Burne-Jones, The Beguiling of Merlin (1870-4)
Musidora (poem, James Thomson, Summer, 1727) Etty, Musidora: The Bather ‘At the Doubtful Breeze Alarmed’ (replica) (c 1846)
Nessus and Deianira (Classical myth) Böcklin, Nessus and Deianira (1898)
Ney, Marshall Michel, Death (French history, 1815) Gérôme, The Death of Marshal Ney (1868)
Odysseus/Ulysses and Calypso (Classical epic poetry, Homer, Odyssey) Böcklin, Odysseus and Calypso (1883)
Odysseus/Ulysses and Circe (Classical epic poetry, Homer, Odyssey) Waterhouse, Circe Offering the Cup to Odysseus (1891)
Odysseus/Ulysses and Penelope (wife) (Classical epic poetry, Homer, Odyssey) Wright of Derby, Penelope Unravelling her Web by Lamp-light (1785)
Odysseus/Ulysses and Polyphemus (Classical epic poetry, Homer, Odyssey) Turner, Ulysses Deriding Polyphemus (1829) Böcklin, Odysseus and Polyphemus (1896)
Odysseus/Ulysses and Sirens (Classical epic poetry, Homer, Odyssey) Waterhouse, Ulysses and the Sirens (1891) Böcklin, Sirens (1875)
Oedipus and the Sphinx (Greek legend) Ingres, Oedipus and the Sphinx (1808, 1827); Moreau, Oedipus and the Sphinx (1864)
Ophelia (Shakespeare, play, Hamlet, Act IV scene vii) Millais, Ophelia (1851-2)
Orpheus and Eurydice (Classical myth, Virgil, Georgics, and Ovid, Metamorphoses) Corot, Orpheus Leading Eurydice from the Underworld (1861)
Paolo and Francesca da Rimini (epic poem, Dante Alighieri, Inferno, 14th century) Doré, Paolo and Francesca da Rimini (1863)
Papin, Christine and Léa, murders (French crime, 1933; play, Jean Genet, Les Bonnes, 1947) Rego, The Maids (1987)
Paris, Judgement of (Classical myth) Renoir, The Judgement of Paris (c 1908, c 1908-10); Cézanne, The Judgment of Paris (1862-4)
Persephone and Hades (Classical Greek mythology) Crane, The Fate of Persephone (1878)
Phryné and the Areopagus (Greek history, Athenaeus and others, c 350 BCE) Gérôme, Phryné before the Areopagus (1861)
Pilgrim’s Progress (allegorical novel, John Bunyan, 1678) Palmer, Christian Descending into the Valley of Humiliation (1848); The Moving Panorama of Pilgrim’s Progress (1851)
Psyche and Cupid (Classical mythology, Apuleius) Luminais, Psyché (1886)
Pygmalion and Galatea (Greek legend, Ovid, Metamorphoses) Gérôme, Pygmalion and Galatea (study) (1890)
Quixote, Don (novel, Miguel Cervantes, 1605, 1615) Daumier, Don Quixote and the Dead Mule (1867)
Rinaldo and Armida (epic poetry, Torquato Tasso, Jerusalem Delivered, 1581) Poussin, Rinaldo and Armida (c 1630) (also Tancred and Erminia) van Dyck, Vassallo, Lippi, van Mieris, Conca, Tiepolo, Fragonard, Zugno, Cades, Hoet the Elder, Kauffman, de la Fosse, Muller, Stillman Collier, The Garden of Armida (1899)
Roger and Angelica (epic poem, Ariosto, Orlando Furioso) Ingres, Roger (Ruggiero) Rescuing Angelica (1819) Böcklin, Roger freeing Angelica (1873, 1879-80)
Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare, play, Romeo and Juliet, 1597) Wright of Derby, Romeo and Juliet. The Tomb Scene (1790)
Romulus, victory over Acron (Roman history, Plutarch) Ingres, Romulus’ Victory over Acron, (1812)
Ruth and Boaz (Biblical, Old Testament) Crane, Ruth and Boaz (1863)
Sabine Women, Intervention (Roman history) David, The Intervention of the Sabine Women (1799)
Sadak (novel, James Ridley, Tales of the Genii, 1764) Martin, Sadak in Search of the Waters of Oblivion (1812)
Saint Anthony, Temptation (Saints, c 200 CE) Cézanne, The Temptation of Saint Anthony (c 1875)
Samson and Delilah (Biblical, Old Testament, Judges) Etty, Delilah before the Blinded Samson (date not known)
Sardanapalus, Death of (Greek history and later play by Byron, 1821) Delacroix, The Death of Sardanapalus (1827)
Shalott, Lady of (Poem, Arthurian, Tennyson, 1833) Waterhouse, The Lady of Shalott (1888); “I am Half Sick of Shadows” said the Lady of Shalott (1915) Crane, The Lady of Shalott (1862)
Sleeping Beauty (folk tale, Europe, Brothers Grimm and others) Collier, The Sleeping Beauty (1921)
Snow White (folk tale, Europe) Rego, Snow White Swallows the Poisoned Apple (1995)
Socrates, death (Greek history, 399 BCE, Plato, Phaedo) David, The Death of Socrates (1787)
Sodom and Gomorrah, destruction (Biblical, Old Testament) Martin, The Destruction Of Sodom And Gomorrah (1852)
Tancred and Erminia – see Rinaldo and Armida
Tristan and Isolde (Arthurian legend, Persian origin) Waterhouse, Tristan and Isolde (1916)
Vale of Tears (Biblical, Old Testament, Psalm 83) Doré, The Vale of Tears (unfinished) (1883)
Yellow Rose of Texas (folk song, USA) Wright, The Yellow Rose of Texas (2008)
