The devil’s darning needles have had a bad press, and appear in just a few paintings. Here’s a vanitas still life, a meal for chaffinches, and some stranger associations.
narrative
To enable Theseus to retrace his steps out of the Labyrinth, Ariadne gives him a ball of thread, in return for which he promises to marry her. Once the couple escape to the island of Naxos, Theseus abandons her and sails back to Athens.
A painting commissioned by the Grand Duke of Tuscany towards the end of the 30 Years’ War in Europe, details with its figures the suffering resulting from war, rather than the triumph of victory.
A painting for England’s King Charles I to encourage him to make peace with Spain, left by Rubens in 1630. Its figures make clear the meaning of war, as explained here.
Do you know the difference between a caduceus and the rod of Asclepius, what each means? Paintings by William Blake, Renoir, and others explain.
Born son of the King of Athens, the god Poseidon, and Princess Aethra, his first task was to find his father’s sandals and sword, and take them to Athens, where Medea tried to poison him.
Perseus kills the sea monster, and marries Andromeda as his reward. Phineus and his friends turn nasty at their wedding, and are turned to stone, and how the couple became constellations.
The story of the greatest slayer of monsters, son of Zeus and Danaë, who was sent on a mission to bring back the severed head of Medusa, then stopped in Ethiopia to rescue a princess who was about to be eaten by a sea monster.
A brief overview of the plot of Tasso’s epic, complete with links to all the articles, and a selection of the best of paintings.
Suddenly popular in paintings from around 1880, the story of Pandora and her box brought many interpretations, and remains a story of our time.
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