Sisters at the heart of the myth of Perseus, Medusa and Andromeda. In painting by Burne-Jones, Caravaggio, Malczewski, Klimt and others.
Malczewski
His portraits aren’t simple likenesses, but personal narratives which can be difficult to read now because loss of their context.
Brilliant paintings of Poles exiled to Siberia, Thanatos as a woman, Medusa, and the story of Tobias and the angel.
Epitomising human attitudes to life and death for millennia, they spin the thread of life, measure the length allotted to each person, and cut that length with shears.
Rarely painted, particularly in classical form, until the 19th century, the Grim Reaper is based on Father Time, not Thanatos.
As narrative painting went into decline, Ophelia became even more popular. From Henrietta Rae through sub-aqua views to Waterhouse’s obsession.
Greece, France, death, day, night and more painted by Delacroix, Waterhouse, Watts, Gérôme, Malczewski, ER Hughes, and more.
From the funerary portraits of Fayum, through the work of Jan van Eyck, to Leonardo, Rubens and Botticelli, many of the greatest paintings are on wood panels.
Formerly a beautiful young woman, she was turned into a monster by Minerva, and painted by Caravaggio, Rubens, Klimt, and others.
From Dante Gabriel Rossetti, through Lovis Corinth, to Alphonse Mucha and Christian Krohg – modern masterpieces.
