An American fan of Vermeer who trained under Gérôme in Paris thought he’d discovered Vermeer’s optical secrets, and revived his defocussed style.
Gérôme
Dogs guarding the underworld, attributes of Diana, discovering Tyrian purple, gathering scraps under the Last Supper, and telling part of the story.
Paintings from Rembrandt’s second version to Cézanne and Franz von Stuck show the triumph of privileged male power.
Stories from Dante’s ‘Inferno’, the daughter of Jephthah, Phaedra, Ophelia, and Cleopatra, on the theme of the doomed woman.
Associated with Dionysus/Bacchus and his followers, it’s basically a staff decorated with plant matter. Seen here in different variants from Pompeii onwards.
How truth is associated with a well, where Jesus spoke with a Samaritan woman, where to dispose of a rapist, and one of Paul Signac’s less successful paintings.
From depth cues used by painters in ancient times, through the many advances in the Northern Renaissance, to modern photographic projections.
Brunelleschi’s perspective projection was just a start. With optical instruments and later photography, painters exploited the visual effects of unusual projections.
An attribute of the goddess Athena (Minerva), it consists of the image of the face of Medusa on a shield or breastplate.
Neptune’s trident has three tines, while Pluto’s is a bident with only two. Or it could be a pitchfork. How to read them in paintings.
The Eclectic Light Company 