An unusual pastel, a couple of fine nocturnes, then some reflections of figures from Caravaggio and Bonnard, concluded by coy self-portraits.
painting
Reflections seen in landscapes from Dürer’s pioneering watercolour, through Poussin and Turner to Monet, Sisley and Neo-Impressionists.
Why is the Virgin Mary standing on a snake with a part-eaten apple in its mouth? And which painting of her was banned from display in Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome?
Snakes and serpents in myth, legend and religion are thoroughly sinister and bad, with one curious exception. A journey across centuries of images.
For 20 years, Boydell’s Shakespeare Gallery tried to establish an English School of History Painting. Or was it just a ploy to make money from prints?
A prolific painter who was moderately successful in the Salon, a key influence on Impressionism, and Monet’s first mentor, yet is now almost forgotten.
Thought to be his first play, it hasn’t been painted much, but those who have are notable, including William Holman Hunt’s masterpiece.
Electric light on the banks of the Seine in Paris, and in the shopping centres of Berlin, herald the eternal light of today’s city centres.
From the burning brands and oil lamps of the Greeks and Romans, to the soft light of candles, then in the 19th century came gaslights.
A king and a bishop dance arm in arm with skeletons, in the Dance of Death. How did that come about, and why did it reappear in the 19th century?
The Eclectic Light Company 