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Russian Folk Tales of Viktor Vasnetsov 2
By the late 1880s, Viktor Mikhailovich Vasnetsov (1848–1926) had established himself as the leading Russian painter of folk tales. He was living in Kiev, in the Ukraine, where he worked with Mikhail...
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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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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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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...
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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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Gods of the Week: Chronos and Aion (Time)
There’s a great deal of confusion over the classical god or gods of time. Some ancient authorities claim that time existed before Chaos and the ‘creation’ of the earliest gods. There’s a confusion of...
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Goddesses of the Week: the Hesperides
Like the Fates, in some of the classical cosmogonies the Hesperides are daughters of Nyx, primordial goddess of the night. This is by no means agreed, and some claim that they were the issue of Atlas...
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Paradise Lost: Book 1 in paintings and illustrations
Rather than attempt my own summary of John Milton’s poem, I give selected excerpts from his original, with my comments given, where necessary, in italics. Excerpts given as prose are from Milton’s own...
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Ribbit: Frogs and toads in paintings, 2 Princesses
In my survey of paintings of frogs and toads, yesterday’s article considered the classical myth of Latona, who transformed the obstructive Lycians into frogs. Today I look at paintings of folk stories,...
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Goddess of the Week: Nemesis (retribution)
Another of the daughters of the primordial goddess Nyx (Night) is one of the few whose Greek name has entered the English language: Nemesis, also known as the Goddess of Rhamnous, or Rhamnousia. As the...
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Paradise Lost: Book 2 in paintings and illustrations
In the first book: To these Satan directs his speech, comforts them with hopes yet of regaining Heaven, but tells them lastly of a new world and new kind of creature to be created, according to an...
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The Prime Minister’s Music Room, Perseus and Andromeda
On 11 July 1902, Lord Salisbury resigned as Prime Minister of the UK, and Arthur Balfour (1848-1930) immediately became his uncle’s successor, assuming office the following day. Although hardly a...
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Goddess of the Week: Eris (discord)
The last of the children of Nyx, primordial goddess of night, who has any significant presence in art since the Renaissance is Eris, associated with either strife or discord, and known to the Romans as...
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Paradise Lost: Book 3 in paintings and illustrations
In the second book: Satan passes on his journey to Hell-gates, finds them shut, and who sat there to guard them, by whom at length they are opened, and discover to him the great gulf between Hell and...
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Goddesses of the Week: The Erinyes (Furies)
The sister goddesses no one wanted to come across were the Erinyes (Ἐρινύες, plural of the Greek Erinys Ἐρινύς), or to the Romans the Dirae – the Furies. Although some held that they were daughters of...
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