Summary of the plot in the first half of Ariosto’s epic, with links to detailed accounts, and paintings by Delacroix, Rubens, Böcklin, Ingres and others.
Ingres
Moreau is often claimed as a ‘father of Symbolism’, or even a Symbolist. A detailed look at his first great success at the Salon: is it regular narrative or symbolist?
Ruggiero rescues Angelica, but is unable to kill the orc. After they fly off together, he tries his luck but she becomes invisible and escapes. Orlando then kills the orc and rescues Olimpia.
How an orc came to eat a woman each day, and Angelica is kidnapped to provide its next meal. And how Orlando got to fight Frisians to save a marriage.
Painting dreams relies on a compositional convention to show both the viewer’s image of the dream, and that of the dreamer.
Under the patronage of the d’Estes, Ariosto drew on Carolingian and Arthurian legend, and classical myths, to create his epic. With superb paintings to accompany.
Born 200 years ago today, he should have been one of the major artists of the 19th century, but died when he had only just turned 37.
A pupil of JAD Ingres when he was only 11 years old, his first work exhibited at the Salon when he was only 16: a precocious and brilliant narrative artist.
Before folk history changed with the concept of human evolution, caves were sacred places inhabited by hermits, or figures from myth.
The Second Circle of Hell, in which those whose sin was lust are blown by eternal storms. The story of Paolo and Francesca, and many wonderful paintings.
