Pygmalion carves an ivory statue of the perfect woman, and prays to Venus for a bride in its likeness. When he showers the statue with his kisses, it turns into the woman he wanted.
Regnault
Newly wed Eurydice is bitten by a snake and dies. Orpheus rescues her from the Underworld, but on their way back he looks back to check on her. All in magnificent paintings.
In 1876, Moreau recast Salome as the author of John the Baptist’s execution, amplified by Oscar Wilde, Richard Strauss, and the Dance of the Seven Veils.
Bastien-Lepage, Regnault, Pelez, Debat-Ponsan, Buland, Dagnan-Bouveret, Gervex, and Friant: best in their class, and highly successful pupils.
The greatest bard, musician and poet in classical Greek myth. Paintings from Paulus Potter, Poussin, Jan Brueghel the Elder and others.
With Greek defeat imminent, Patroclus dons Achilles’ armour and puts the Trojans to rout. He chases them to the city’s gate, where he’s killed by Hector.
Paris, Prince of Troy, is the perfect pawn in Zeus’s plan for war. He develops a taste for beautiful women, then accepts Aphrodite’s bribe in the beauty contest of the three goddesses.
Frédéric Bazille and Henri Regnault, both killed in the brief Franco-Prussian War. War artists including former surgeon Henry Tonks show scenes from the First World War.
The fourth ‘basic plot’ is the story of voyage and return, for which we turn to Ovid’s account of this couple, and a dozen superb paintings. But does the model fit?
The Prix de Rome changed in the 19th century. Its subjects became more obscure, and its successes few and far between.
The Eclectic Light Company 