Europa’s brother Cadmus is told to found a new city wherever a cow leads him. After killing a man-eating dragon, he sows its teeth in the soil.
Jordaens
Relative size can express relative importance, rather than giving a sense of depth. Although ancient tradition, it still appears in more modern paintings.
Paintings by Rubens, Rembrandt, Jordaens, Coypel and an unusual watercolour on ivory by Goya, telling this story.
Summary of each episode in this 26-part series covering the Epic Cycle of Troy, from Zeus deciding to reduce the weight of people on the earth, to the death of Odysseus.
Cadmus, Europa’s brother, kills a dragon and sows its teeth to grow into the men who help him build Thebes. But his grandson Actaeon is killed when he catches Diana bathing.
A princess takes her handmaids to the coast to wash her fine robes and themselves. Out steps Odysseus, naked except for strategic leaves, and asks for their help.
Queen Penelope and their son Telemachus were awaiting the return of Odysseus, whose ships ended up off the island of the Cyclops.
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.
Zeus comes up with a plan to reduce the number of mortals, and completes one of the first two steps, marrying Thetis to a mortal. And what a wedding feast, thanks to Eris.
Without a title and the story in a fable, paintings can be hard to identify, and even harder to read. Examples from 1500-1751.
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