Clown figures including Harlequin, Pulcinella and Pierrot are derived from the commedia dell’arte, a favourite of Watteau and other painters.
Gérôme
Maternal love, Oedipus and the Sphinx, and a naked courtesan unveiled before a court of men, all demonstrate how important is gaze.
Rediscovering our iconology and visual tradition, starting with a Ship of Fools, Death and the Maiden, Truth coming out of her well, and the wings on angels.
One of the most travelled painters in history, here are views of Turkestan, India, western Russia, Ukraine, Georgia and Japan.
Reading the history of agriculture in landscape paintings tells the story of the revolution that has taken place over the last 500 years.
Grisaille – grey underpainting used to set the tone for a finished work – is like underwear, waiting for richly coloured clothes to go on top. Not in these paintings, though.
Why are women sometimes shown as having very pale skin? Why did they apply cosmetics to make their faces whiter? Ask the ancient Egyptians.
Well known from language, the scarlet woman should be easy to read in paintings. But all that is scarlet isn’t who you’d expect.
Before the 19th century, most paintings of deserts were imaginary. Then artists started to paint them at first hand. Paintings up to 1864.
From the shadowed silhouette painted by the legendary Dibutades to paintings of families involved in shadow play.
The Eclectic Light Company 