John Collier’s latest ‘problem picture’ became the most popular event in the Royal Academy’s annual exhibition.
narrative
In which Dante passes through the realm of fixed stars, then the Primum Mobile, which is the origin of time, and finally the mind of God in the Empyrean. One last Blake too.
Besieged with inquiries from people who couldn’t sleep, Yeames judged a contest to explain his painting. It was clear that even he didn’t know the answer.
In which Dante learns about just rulers and the unjust from a giant eagle made from spirits, and sees Jacob’s ladder leading up to the highest heaven.
Becoming more popular in the late 1880s and early 1890s, ‘problem pictures’ from Marie Spartali Stillman, Henrietta Rae, Millais, and others.
Dante meets St Thomas Aquinas in the shell of the sun, then moves upward to that of Mars, where there are holy warriors.
Fine examples from Millais, Berthold Woltze, Yeames, William Quiller Orchardson, and Degas.
Dante and Beatrice ascend to the shell of Mercury, where they meet Justinian, then on to Venus, where love is the order of the day.
Two paintings from Edgar Degas have still, 150 years later, defied all attempts to resolve their narratives. Another from Britain, and one from the American Eastman Johnson.
In which Dante, guided by Beatrice, ascends to the first shell of the heavens, containing the moon. Many paintings of Piccarda Donati and the Empress Constance result.
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