Boudin’s beach paintings heralding Impressionism, the turn of the plough, the flax harvest, stave churches, an early mermaid, Turner’s white rabbit, and more.
Cranach
Human in their upper body, and fish from the waist down, these aren’t sirens at all, but have their own mythology in many traditions.
Who is this deeply troubled woman, only known for her attempted abduction by the Centaur Nessus? And how did she bring about Hercules’ death?
The earliest known story in the Western canon to end with the suicide of frustrated lovers, it was the precursor to Romeo and Juliet, and extensively depicted.
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.
Painting with an edge hierarchy requires fine control over paint viscosity and drying time, and a deep understanding of technique.
Paintings by Giorgione, Lucas Cranach the Elder, Elisabetta Sirani, Goya, Horace Vernet, Jules Lefebvre, Klimt, Kolo Moser, and Franz von Stuck.
Paintings of this story from Hans Memling to the first of Rembrandt’s show Bathsheba bathing in the foreground while the king looks on as voyeur.
The model for Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, this couple committed suicide when each presumed they had brought the death of the other.
The curious myth of the swashbuckling hero Hercules dressed in women’s clothing and forced to serve Queen Omphale.
