From sacred symbols in a mosaic of Theodora and the Adoration of the Lamb, to roadside watering holes, and the town’s fresh water supply.
Piranesi
Examples of surreal visual art from Bosch in about 1500, through Piranesi’s Imaginary Prison, Richard Dadd, to Félix Vallotton in 1892.
The curious legendary origin of a now vanished temple to Aesculapius on Tiber Island in Rome, shown in paintings and engravings.
Key parts of the background of paintings of the story of the rape of the Sabine Women, this hill was originally a fortress, then the major temple to Jupiter.
A saint banished to the island of Patmos, a history wound around a column, and a megalomaniac emperor strangled in his bath by a professional wrestler.
Sixteen extraordinary etchings from a really wild imagination, published in two editions during his lifetime. A founding inspiration to Gothic-Romantic and Surrealist art.
He made about 2,000 prints, overwhelmingly views of Roman ruins. They remain a reference for artists, archaeologists and antiquaries.
Look for series covering the life and paintings of Raphael, the Swedish Anders Zorn, Amedeo Modigliani, and articles on others with anniversaries this year.
The Eclectic Light Company 