Popularised with large-format colour printing in the middle of the 19th century, there appear in several paintings where they contribute to the reading.
Alma-Tadema
Stairs to fall down, to sit in disgrace, or pose with your sibling? Stairs winding up and defying gravity, bearing ballet dancers, or in a Gothic prison.
A dramatic family break-up, Norwegian light and music, a library, ornate decor with a bird cage, and a truly avant-garde interior of 1913.
The interiors of an artist’s studio, realistic or fantastic, those of the Netherlands a century earlier, a cotton office in New Orleans, and more.
First popular in the Dutch Golden Age, paintings of interiors enjoyed success during the 19th century, when they were favourites of the avant garde.
Did Sappho really throw herself from the Leucadian Cliff when she was jilted by Phaon the local ferryman, or was Ovid ridiculing the story?
Aesculapius, Psyche, the Esquiline Venus, views in Roman villas, Queen Sheba visiting King Solomon, storm nymphs, and a lascivious dance.
In an act of revenge by Aphrodite, Phaedra, wife of Theseus, falls in love with her stepson Hippolytus, with tragic consequences.
Carrying infants, including Moses, figs with a few asps, the master’s dinner, Manet’s luncheon on the grass, snacks, banquets, and fruit.
In classical times, they were strummed like a guitar rather than plucked. Apollo, Orpheus and lyric poets from Raphael, Rubens, Waterhouse and others.
The Eclectic Light Company 