We love surprise twists in the plot of novels and movies. How can painters achieve the effect of surprise in their narrative images? Masaccio, Rembrandt, Poussin, and more.
narrative
He specialised in history paintings of the Tudor and Stuart period, and later painted problem pictures to puzzle the viewer. He died 100 years ago today.
Another six of the best, from the battle of the Lapiths and Centaurs to the assassination of Julius Caesar, from Rubens to Turner.
Six of the best, from Nessus, Deianira and Hercules to the sacrifice of Iphigeia, painted by Tiepolo, Rubens, and others.
The final article in this series looks at Augustus and Cleopatra, the emperor’s patronage of Virgil, and how Ovid’s own legacy has been transformed in paintings.
The story of the assassination of the dictator, told by William Blake, Gérôme, von Piloty, and others.
After three brief tales of strange happenings in early Rome, Ovid gives an account of the bringing of the god Aesculapius to the city, to end an epidemic.
Paintings by Poussin and Claude give different accounts of the meeting and separation by death of King Numa and the nymph Egeria. Did she dictate to him the laws of Rome?
After a short story of Hercules saving Myscelus, Ovid presents the doctrines of Pythagoras, including advocacy of vegetarianism, and philosophy of change. Raphael and Rubens.
In which Romulus, as the founder of the city of Rome, successfully defends the city against the Sabines, before his apotheosis, and that of his Sabine wife, Hersilia.
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