Until the 19th century, narrative paintings showed stories which the viewer already knew, ideally at the moment of change or transformation.
peripeteia
A painter who specialised in depicting surprise, and works by John Collier, Lovis Corinth, and Stuart Pearson Wright complete this account.
More paintings of surprise, by Gericault, Gérôme, Regnault, Bastien-Lepage, Morelli, and others.
We love surprise twists in the plot of novels and movies. How can painters achieve the effect of surprise in their narrative images? Masaccio, Rembrandt, Poussin, and more.
The story of Odysseus meeting Nausicaä has been a major influence in Western narrative. How has it been shown in paintings?
Language has rich and precise mechanisms for dealing with time. Narrative painting is not without its tools, though.
One of the greatest narrative paintings of all time, and the only well-known work by this promising painter.
A lesson from Aristotle on how to craft powerful narrative in paintings.
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