Two themes now largely forgotten: Christ’s descent into Limbo and Harrowing of Hell, and his supper at Emmaus.
Caravaggio
Gambling as a sure road to Hell, with Bosch, Caravaggio, Georges de la Tour, Hogarth, Géricault, Courbet, Rossetti, and others.
Carrying Caravaggio’s rotting fruit, bread from the cereal harvest, Vermeer’s milkmaid, fish, dirty washing, lambs, rocks and garlic.
The original Biblical account of the martyrdom of John the Baptist says that Herod’s wife Herodias ordered it in revenge, as seen in these paintings.
Paintings by Caravaggio, Artemisia Gentileschi, Veronese, Lavinia Fontana, and Bigot all showing the murder.
Neptune’s trident has three tines, while Pluto’s is a bident with only two. Or it could be a pitchfork. How to read them in paintings.
Before photography, the only opportunity to see your face, painters took advantage of the Venus Effect to break optical rules and show faces that couldn’t have been seen in the mirror.
Explaining shade, attached and cast shadows seen in paintings. While the first two have been generally painted faithfully, cast shadows are more complicated.
Surprise, suspicion, and sheer horror in these wide open eyes painted by Rembrandt, Caravaggio, Rubens, Annie Swynnerton and others.
A collection of paintings with strange incongruities that can make them impossible to read, from Masaccio to Gérôme.
The Eclectic Light Company 