Easily told in words, stories are harder to paint. Here are five main methods used, explained and shown in examples from the masters.
Dyce
Claimed to be Dante’s beloved, Beatrice Portinari has become one of the most painted women in history. But she may have been symbolic rather than physical. Paintings by Blake and others.
Examples from William Blake, Caspar David Friedrich, Delacroix, and an enigmatic painting of Wales.
Greece, France, death, day, night and more painted by Delacroix, Waterhouse, Watts, Gérôme, Malczewski, ER Hughes, and more.
A maze of myths about shape-shifting, Neptune, and the sea leads to two wonderful but puzzling paintings.
The birthplace of Impressionism, and its spread around the world, it also reflected the huge changes in society, leisure, and dress. Let’s soak up the sun.
A landscape without human or animal figures often looks eery or unnatural. This new series looks at how figures are used in landscape paintings, with copious examples.
A brief survey of landscapes by Ford Madox Brown, Thomas Seddon, William Dyce, and others in the late 1850s.
A simple story with an obvious climax to be shown. But getting the composition right proves a test even for the Masters.
In addition to conventional narrative works, he painted two landscapes which might need deeper reading. Are they about something else?
