In the weaving contest between Arachne and Minerva, used by the Fates, cropped to weaken Samson, in the Annunciation, or simply for cutting.
Crane
Wood nymphs or Dryads, with Hamadryads being bonded to a tree. Painting by Evelyn De Morgan, FΓ©licien Rops, Walter Crane, JW Waterhouse and others.
River gods from Rubens, Poussin, Coypel and Boucher, with Naiads from Walter Crane, JW Waterhouse, Henrietta Rae and others.
More paintings from Louis Janmot’s epic Poem of the Soul, Walter Crane’s concise Bridge of Life, and a selection from Edvard Munch’s second Frieze of Life, exhibited in 1902.
Nicolas Poussin’s superb set from the end of his career, a series of women by Bouguereau, Delacroix’s set of myths, Mucha, Crane and a Japanese set from 1917.
He taught, and travelled more. Paintings include ‘Death, the Reaper’ and one of the last of his major oil paintings, ‘A Masque for the Four Seasons’ with its references to Botticelli’s Primavera.
An active socialist from 1883, for a few years his paintings had social undertones, then from 1887 they showed the forces of nature in elemental play.
Now known as one of the leading illustrators of children’s books, he was also an accomplished and recognised painter. Here are some narratives from his early career.
Indian Yellow was allegedly made from the urine of cows fed on mango leaves, dried into balls, but was outlawed as it cruel to the cattle. Chrome Yellow was widely used by the Impressionists.
Perseus and Andromeda, the death of Medusa, Proserpine abducted by Pluto to Hades, weaving contest between Minerva and Arachne, Lycians turned into frogs, Marsyas flayed, Jason and the Golden Fleece, and the origins of Theseus.
