Millais’ wonderful painting of Ophelia wasn’t the first such work. From West and Delacroix to Rossetti and Bastien-Lepage, here she is.
Delaunay
Three exceptional paintings are dominated by geometrical forms. In one, a huge golden cylinder hangs in the night sky. Was this an innovative abstract painting?
Later painting of the Black Death and plague stressed the importance of divine intervention in limiting its spread.
From his early successes in Spain, Caesar had his heart set on high office. He worked hard for nearly ten years in his campaigns in Gaul, and even landed on the shores of Britain.
How could I follow my 85-part account of Ovid’s Metamorphoses? With the greatest collection of biographies of classical figures, an inspiration to Charlotte Corday herself.
After three brief tales of strange happenings in early Rome, Ovid gives an account of the bringing of the god Aesculapius to the city, to end an epidemic.
Louis Blériot’s flight across the Channel of 25 July 1909, then the First World War. Aircraft became popular subjects for paintings. With John Singer Sargent, Paul Klee, and Paul Nash.
Ovid’s fictional letter made it clear how the legend of Phaon was absurd. Yet it has been painted repeatedly ever since.
How a half-brother of Hector blamed himself for the death of Hesperia, who died of a snakebite, flung himself from a cliff, and was transformed into a diver.
How a centaur tried to abduct Hercules’ new bride, and the delayed revenge which led to the death of Hercules.
