The Roman poet whose poetic account of myths found a place in almost every workshop or studio in Europe between 1500-1850.
Metamorphoses
Cadmus’ daughter Semele is destroyed by Jupiter’s lightning, but her infant grows into Bacchus. Pentheus is then torn apart by bacchantes, and Cadmus and his wife are turned into snakes.
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.
The model for Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, this couple committed suicide when each presumed they had brought the death of the other.
Fishing with rod and line plays a significant part in the myth of Daedalus, and adds calm and timelessness to many landscapes.
Moreau defined painting as “this language of symbol, myth and sign”, and this is his greatest expression of that.
We give presents at Christmas after the 3 kings. So what is myrrh, and what are its origins in paintings? A grim story of incest, deceit and metamorphosis.
After painting portraits of the Pope during his second visit to Italy, he returns to paint the king’s niece and new bride, Las Meninas, and his last myth.
Review of paintings and related articles published here in the first half of 2018, starring Fuseli, Klimt, Liljefors, Sassoferrato, and Hodler.
In the first few years of his career, he was commissioned to paint a series showing stories from Ovid’s Metamorphoses. They are simply brilliant.
The Eclectic Light Company 