Asphalt has been claimed to be responsible for the slow destruction and loss of many paintings, from the ‘Raft of the Medusa’ on. The evidence is tenuous.
Géricault
His later years brought one of the few paintings of Nemesis, an influence on Géricault’s ‘Raft of the Medusa’, and a portrait of the infant King of Rome.
Perception changed with photography, and we came to interpret blur, lines and other devices as indicating motion.
The heavily embroidered story of Cossack hetman Ivan Mazepa was turned into a narrative poem by Lord Byron, and inspired paintings by Géricault, Delacroix, Vernet, and others.
The meaning of one arm raised depends on the position of the fingers: is it an index finger pointing to heaven, or a sign of benediction?
Travel by sea was hazardous. Here are paintings of shipwrecks from Tintoretto to the early 19th century, as an introduction to The Tempest.
From David’s history paintings of the end of the eighteenth century, the genre went from strength to strength, with major works by Goya, Géricault, and even Manet.
An overview of some of the articles on painting published here during the last year. From Goethe’s Faust to Leonardo da Vinci.
The painting’s reception, and how it changed 19th century painting, with Courbet, Lhermitte, Naturalists, and Tom Lea III.
Considers modern history painting before this by West and David, the underlying story of the tragedy, and how Géricault came to paint what he did.
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