Queen Penelope and their son Telemachus were awaiting the return of Odysseus, whose ships ended up off the island of the Cyclops.
Böcklin
More paintings with strange incongruities, this time from Arnold Böcklin’s Sirens to the Surrealism of Paul Nash.
Barefoot and sometimes surprising, as Christ washes the disciples’ feet, and other feet are missing altogether. Barefoot means poverty too.
The Grim Reaper, complete with scythe, first appeared in the Middle Ages and became popular in the 19th century. It’s one of the few phrases drawn from visual art.
Never paint children or animals, says the rule. This tribute to artists who ignored the rule shows work by Pieter Brueghel the Elder, Goya, and others to Mary Cassatt.
More gorges from Edward Lear, Frederic Church, Signac, Thoma, Hodler and others, from the Alps to Iran.
This is when the year should really begin. A celebration of the real New Year from Botticelli to Pissarro, aided by Sisley, Van Gogh and others.
Landscapes which are quietly unusual, and one of the Symbolist masterworks of the 19th century, after which he turned Impressionist.
Odysseus and his crew survive their encounter with the Sirens, but the hero has to endure 7 years with Calypso before he meets Nausicaä.
How Odysseus and his crew escaped the one-eyed giant Polyphemus, then became turned into pigs by the sorceress Circe.