How Dante meets up with Virgil, and is guided by him down to the deepest circle of Hell. About the other two books, covering Purgatory and Paradise.
narrative
Half a millennium later, a British artist paints the interior of Botticelli’s studio, with members of the de’ Medici family. How accurate could that be?
They tried to lure Odysseus and his crew to their deaths, and the same with Jason and his Argonauts. With the head of a beautiful woman and the legs of a bird, their singing was alluring to sailors.
To the depths of Hell, to see the giant triple-headed Lucifer eating Judas Iscariot, Brutus and Cassius. Then as dawn draws near, back to the world above.
How Lycurgus got the Spartans to keep his laws, the 300 at Thermopylae, a Spartan poet supporting warriors in the 2nd Messenian War, and the role of Sparta in the start of the war against Troy.
The remarkable story of how Lycurgus laid down the oral laws of Sparta, to create the perfect male warrior. Paintings by Degas, Delacroix, David and others.
The first portrait of Sarah Bernhardt, scenes of the Franco-Prussian War, two huge religious paintings, and two superb views of the Scottish Highlands. Doré as you’ve not seen him before.
Known today only for his prolific illustrations of major European narratives and the Bible, he was also an accomplished and well-received painter in oils.
The horrific story of a count locked away to starve to death, who turned to cannibalism. How that came to be used falsely in Lavater’s physiognomy.
Popularly intended to transform base metals like lead into gold, alchemy relied on special glassware like alembics, and is included with other ‘dark arts’ in paintings.
The Eclectic Light Company 