Unlike the face and hands, feet are usually covered in paintings. There are plenty of exceptions, but even the naked Phryné wore a pair of sandals.
Gérôme
Following the Paris Commune of 1871, history painters resorted to indirect reference in paintings of obscure episodes in mediaeval history.
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.
Humorous paintings of animals and children, and well-known stories such as Salome, and Don Quixote, leading to an inspiration for Surrealists.
Trained with Gérôme in Paris, he painted fine rural landscapes of Alpine meadows, religious works, and used advanced optical effects.
A brief overview of the legendary and mythical history of the city and its empire, with links to all the articles in this series, and some of the finest paintings.
Rome’s central and most enduring institution, it was the setting for the assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 BCE. What did it really look like though?
Finance by the spoils of the Temple of Jerusalem, a place of suffering and death, and for oppression of Christians. Success out of excess.
Originally a marsh just outside the city’s walls, it came to be the heart of the city, a market, meeting place, and the political hub.
Nine very different nativities, from the apocalyptic warnings of a martyr, through the Emperor Augustus, to Maurice Denis’ nativity in a contemporary French town.
