A handscroll, copied from an original painted before 400 CE, tells a complex story in detail a millennium before the European Renaissance.
Category Archive: Life
When Marco Polo brought the first porcelain to Europe, just how did it get its name? From Roman nursery slang, perhaps.
Who was Ovid, and how did he come to write so much on mythology? Illustrated with some fine paintings of his life by Poussin, Delacroix, and Turner.
Dragged to a dungeon by her hair, she had committed no crime – indeed, she had only been faithful to her husband.
Not as easy as it may seem, there are several outstanding paintings about the sense of sight – and an ancient game which is played on every continent.
The last of the stories told by the daughters of Minyas, and among the most unusual of myths. Ovid’s account has depth, and these paintings are as thought-provoking.
An illustrated index to the articles in this series, with an introduction, and extensive references and links.
Wife of Odysseus, here are some fine paintings which tell a little of her side of the story. How she not only remained faithful, but some of the challenges she faced.
Trying to elicit a specific taste seem over-ambitious, but why can’t great paintings at least make us feel peckish?
Three stories in a single telling, about Helios/Sol, the personification of the Sun. His role in the adultery of Venus and Mars, and his two lovers and their bitter rivalry.
