Tracing the origin of a vivid allegory in late 19th century painting, normally attributed to the Dreyfus affair. When did the naked Truth first climb out of a well, and why?
Category Archive: Life
One of the greatest painters of all time, the Venetian Jacopo Tintoretto, was born almost 500 years ago. Probably, and he wasn’t called that either.
He ran off to Rome with another lover, leaving Marthe in the south of France. More fine paintings – including one of his best.
The life of a virtuous Roman statesman and general, with superb paintings by Poussin, Turner, and others.
Paintings of gladiatorial combat and martyrdom in the Colosseum had also been quite different before Gérôme’s ‘Ave Caesar’. Examples from Artemisia Gentileschi and others.
Gérôme’s ‘Ave Caesar’ was a visually stunning wide-angle spectacular, with its detailed reconstructions. Examined in the light of Claude, Girtin, Turner, and others.
Lead White was the primary white pigment used in oil painting until the late twentieth century, and Chalk White was mainly used in the grounds under oil paint layers.
His grand spectacle of The Age of Augustus was brave, but less successful than more modest paintings of Russian soldiers, or a comic duel.
Behind his traditional narrative paintings are his views on the Third Republic, the slaughter of the Paris communards in 1871, and the Dreyfus affair.
With the end of the war, his output increased significantly. A close look at the Tate’s ‘Bowl of Milk’, and Bonnard’s continuing independence.
