Paintings from 1750 on didn’t show ‘Christian’ sibyls, but returned to their classical meaning. Then came Turner’s marvellous narrative landscapes.
Burne-Jones
Even Poussin used this narrative form. Here are other example right up to 1947, including paintings by Corot, Munch, Corinth, and others.
Boy meets girl but has to swim a mile in treacherous waters to keep meeting her. When she tells him how she burns with passion, he pushes his luck in the sea.
The trickery involved in building the first city of Troy results in its destruction. How Achille’s parents marry, and what happens at their wedding.
An unusual transformation, from statue to person, which has been widely retold. A superb series from Burne-Jones, more from Gérôme, and Regnault – fine paintings.
One king trusts his daughter into the care of his son-in-law, another king. What happens next is horrific, and shown brilliantly by Artemisia Gentileschi and Rubens.
Not just superb paintings, but one of the great visual tropes of Western art, and one of the best wedding speeches ever.
An ingenious telling of the story of Perseus rescuing Andromeda from the jaws of a sea monster results in many superb paintings.
The Pre-Raphaelites lived intense and passionate lives. For Edward Burne-Jones, 1869 and 1870 were almost disastrous, when both art and life became too controversial.
A look back at some of the series and some surprises which you might have missed over the last year.
