A series to examine visual development of figures within narrative paintings, according to their type of plot. The fall of Icarus used as an example.
Blondel
The crusaders start their march down the Mediterranean coast towards Jerusalem. Gabriel appears to Godfrey, and a young couple are saved from being burned at the stake by a ‘pagan’ woman knight.
The Crusaders marched quickly down the Mediterranean coast, then turned inland to the Holy City, which they put under siege.
Successor to Romulus, he brought change by persuasion, and did away with the factions of Sabines and Romans. Art by Poussin and others.
He established the unique regime and society of Sparta, with communal meals, harsh selection of newborn babies, and devotion to the state. He enforced those with selfless ingenuity.
Troy is sacked and burning, and its women being taken away as trophies. Two stories stress the horror, as a princess is sacrificed for fair winds, and a callous murder is avenged.
The popular story told concisely by Ovid, and painted brilliantly by van Dyck, Leighton, Rubens, Brueghel, and others.
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