Suppressed by the Reformation, narrative painting didn’t really get going in Britain until the early 18th century, but made up for lost time.
Hogarth
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.
Symbols of the night, and through association with Athena/Minerva, for wisdom and learning. Owls in paintings to William Blake.
As a primary colour, blue is essential in painting. The quest for the right blues has spanned the world and resulted in a succession of synthetic pigments which have influenced art.
In which a young noble starts telling the story as to how he came to pay penance in the mountains, but never finishes. The theft of Sancho’s donkey, and Don Quixote feigns madness.
They meet 12 convicts, who Don Quixote frees before they stone him. On the run, they head for the mountains where they come across gold and a dead mule.
The pair grow scared of noises in the night. When they finally investigate, it’s just a cloth mill. They meet with a barber wearing his bowl on his head, which become the legendary helmet.
After being badly beaten by a group of muleteers, the pair stay at an inn to recover. But the night proves a nightmare, and escaping the next day isn’t easy either.
Two major works in his later years: ‘Work’, showing a crowded street in Victorian London, and 12 large murals for Manchester Town Hall.
In which Don Quixote and Sancho Panza attend the burial of a local shepherd who died of unrequited love for a young shepherdess.
The Eclectic Light Company 