the personification of vigilance, Mary Magdalen, in shadowplay, held by Florence Nightingale ‘the lady of the lamp’, and associated with overwork and tiredness.
myth
Shackles of the night, in a well, as a rope ladder how Romeo meets Juliet, trussing up a robber, or hanging John Brown, the abolitionist.
Waiting the knight’s end, watching a sorceress, flying over a wheat field, or in front of a sleigh. Wherever they go they seem sinister.
Companions to valkyries, accompanying the Wild Hunt, at the Crucifixion and executions, or the first sign of Spring?
Wielded by the Etruscan god of death Charun, Hephaistos or Vulcan, Jael as she killed Sisera, those who nailed Christ to the cross, and the Norse god Thor.
A tragedy with a happy outcome, painted by Waterhouse, Kauffman, Paulus Bor, Delacroix, Maurice Denis and Lovis Corinth.
Dogs guarding the underworld, attributes of Diana, discovering Tyrian purple, gathering scraps under the Last Supper, and telling part of the story.
The abduction of Proserpine, Acis and Galatea, Scylla and Glaucus, the Battle of Himera, and the funeral of Timoleon, and great Greek general.
Associated with Dionysus/Bacchus and his followers, it’s basically a staff decorated with plant matter. Seen here in different variants from Pompeii onwards.
The sign of (human) death. Lots of skulls means mass death or apocalypse. Held by Hamlet, featured in vanitas paintings, and with Mary Magdalene.
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