More mysterious interiors and cupboard views, a group portrait of the Nabis, and two of his models taking a break.
narrative
Hephaistos or Vulcan in classical myth, cheated on by Aphrodite/Venus, and as creator of Pandora. In Bosch’s Last Judgement, and elsewhere.
A gruesome tale of a daughter’s lover killed by her father, and his heart cut out. Also of one of Hogarth’s few failed paintings.
A bizarre story of a ghost who repeatedly kills the ghost of the woman who spurned his love, and how it leads to a successful marriage. Illustrated by Botticelli.
In a myth invented by Piero, a radical annunciation, Pre-Raphaelite religious paintings, William Blake and others who allude to Joseph, the most famous of all.
Written by Giovanni Boccaccio by 1352 and revised in 1370-71, it consists of a hundred stories told by 7 women and 3 men who fled Florence during the Black Death. Some of those tales have been extensively painted.
Tuna fishing in Spain, goldfish sold as pets or in a Berlin flat, underwater with a diver, and in many still lifes, including those of William Merritt Chase, the master of fish.
Venus born surrounded by colourful fish, in the element water, in a feeding frenzy by Turner’s Slave Ship, with mermaids, and brought ashore ready to eat.
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.
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?
The Eclectic Light Company 