A shocking story of the abduction of a young girl by the king of the underworld, but told with sensitivity. And accompanied by some outstanding paintings.
Rossetti
Hardly painted before 1800, there has since been a succession of brilliant paintings of this story. Its focus has changed, from the tension as Oedipus tries to answer the riddle, to the femme fatale.
Wife of Odysseus, here are some fine paintings which tell a little of her side of the story. How she not only remained faithful, but some of the challenges she faced.
She gets but a single line in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, and has been painted only rarely, and then usually in a supporting role.
Music and musicians have been very popular themes for paintings since before the Renaissance. How successful are they in evoking our auditory imaginations?
Tracing Blake’s influence through his friends John Linnell and Samuel Palmer to the likes of Graham Sutherland and Eric Ravilious.
Criticised as being “clumsy” as a painter, his work is nothing if not original and idiosyncratic. Is it also impossible to read?
Accused by Rossetti of copying his work, Sandys was perhaps a better draftsman than he was at developing original ideas. But was he a plagiarist?
Beautiful paintings, devoid of narrative, symbols, or meaning. They represent the height of the Aesthetic movement: ‘pure’ art.
From his first painting of the Glacier of Rosenlaui in 1856, Brett made pure landscapes in Pre-Raphaelite style – stunning in their detail.
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