Until the seventeenth century, still life paintings were occasional curiosities, From the Romans and Hans Memling to the early Dutch Golden Age the genre developed steadily.
Caravaggio
From Aphrodite to Vesta, a reference summary of all the major Classical goddesses, with links to individual accounts.
A nymph cursed by Hera to repeat the words just spoken to her, and a youth who falls in love with his own image. Together the result in some of the finest narrative paintings.
Seen with his three-headed dog Cerberus, the god of the Underworld. Paintings by Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Rubens and others.
Sisters at the heart of the myth of Perseus, Medusa and Andromeda. In painting by Burne-Jones, Caravaggio, Malczewski, Klimt and others.
Look at statues of the Virgin Mary, and they often show her with a foot on a snake. What has that to do with the Immaculate Conception? Rubens, Tiepolo and Caravaggio have the answer.
Formerly a beautiful young woman, she was turned into a monster by Minerva, and painted by Caravaggio, Rubens, Klimt, and others.
A whirlwind trip through the history of compositional chiaroscuro, from the Renaissance, through Caravaggio and Artemisia Gentileschi, to Rembrandt.
Tracing the social history of gambling in paintings by Bosch, Caravaggio, de La Tour, Salvator Rosa, Murillo, Hogarth, and others.
Not just superb paintings, but one of the great visual tropes of Western art, and one of the best wedding speeches ever.
The Eclectic Light Company 