The souls of those who delayed their repentance until shortly before death stay in Ante-purgatory for a whole lifetime. Among them is a virtuous wife who was murdered by her husband.
Rossetti
She proves unfaithful to King Arthur, in her public affair with Sir Lancelot. But he may not have exactly been loyal to her either.
The Second Circle of Hell, in which those whose sin was lust are blown by eternal storms. The story of Paolo and Francesca, and many wonderful paintings.
This new series will travel with Dante and Virgil as they visit Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise, looking at the many masterworks inspired by the poem.
Paintings from 1750 on didn’t show ‘Christian’ sibyls, but returned to their classical meaning. Then came Turner’s marvellous narrative landscapes.
Gretchen and Faust become lovers, but her mother dies as a result of Faust’s sleeping potion, and he kills her brother in a sword-fight.
From Dante Gabriel Rossetti, through Lovis Corinth, to Alphonse Mucha and Christian Krohg – modern masterpieces.
From Jan van Eyck’s trompe l’oeil, through Tanner’s fiery cross, to the modern young Polish woman of Jacek Malczewski.
Two painters: one married Charles Dickens’ daughter and stopped painting, the other became a prolific illustrator, including books by Dickens’ grand-daughter. The Victorian Web at work.
A powerful and well-educated woman, rumoured to have murdered one of her three husbands, painted at the time, and later by Dante Gabriel Rossetti.
