His style evolved from a mildly painterly realism in 1890, steadily loosened in the early 1900s, then broke up into brushstrokes and marks by the early 1920s. But continued to tell stories effectively.
narrative
Capturing a boar and taking it back to the king, who promptly hid in a bronze jar. Cleaning the Augean Stables in a single day. Killing poisonous birds with his arrows. Capturing the Cretan Bull. Stealing horses that liked to eat people.
The tale of Nastagio Degli Onesti told in 4 panels by Botticelli, and the 6 paintings making up William Hogarth’s Marriage A-la-Mode.
1. Kill the Nemean Lion, by stunning it with his club then strangling it with his bare hands. 2. Kill the Lernean Hydra, by cutting off its heads and searing the wounds, then removing its remaining immortal head. 3. Capture the Ceryneian Hind.
Introduction from Roman times through the late Middle Ages into the Renaissance. The main types of visual narrative, why they were so important, and how sophisticated they became.
The son of Zeus when he raped Alcmene, Hera delayed his birth to trap Heracles into being forced to undertake his 12 labours, then tried to kill the infant by putting serpents into his cradle.
First he fights a beggar, then plans how to get rid of his wife’s many suitors by killing them all. He then fears his son will kill him, but succumbs to the venom in a stingray spine.
He swam ashore naked and fell asleep in a pile of leaves, When he awoke the following, he walked in front of princess Nausicaä, and had to ask for her father’s help.
Two sets of triplets fight outside the city of Rome acting as proxies for two warring cities. One survivor at the end demonstrates his loyalty by patriotic sacrifice. But which side was David on?
A classic legend of self-sacrifice, in which a single Roman soldier defended a bridge against a whole army until it was demolished, and Rome was saved from the Etruscans.
