He was remarkably successful, a truly self-made artist, who rose from nothing to international renown. But did he ‘occasion a revolution in the art’?
narrative
In the hands, and brushes, of great artists, a religious set-piece becomes a succession of marvellous and highly innovative paintings.
Ajax and Ulysses put their claims to the Greek leaders to be given the arms and armour of Achilles, after his death. The outcome is a shock.
Admiral Lord Nelson died in similar circumstances to General Wolfe – leading his force to victory, although here at sea in the Battle of Trafalgar. Cue for a ‘modern history painting’.
We’re easily convinced of the reality of 2D images – as when early audiences panicked as the Lumières’ train ran at them in a movie. How has our exposure to pictures changed, though?
A curious short tale of an unfortunate death, then the divine conspiracy which led to the death of its greatest warrior, Achilles, in the Trojan War. More Rubens…
West turns to a series of more classical mythological stories for his paintings between 1792 and 1802. These include Shakespeare, the Bible, and the first novel.
What to our ancestors would have been blurred and defective images are now accepted as depicting motion. How our perception has changed, thanks to photography.
The ultimately disastrous wedding feast ends with its guests killing one another in a series of pitched battles, after one guest tried to abduct the bride.
Far from continuing to paint ‘modern history’, he embarked on major projects for religious paintings, some of which are superb.
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