She started as a now lost painting by Apelles, then later gained a mirror and a well, following old proverbs. She has ended up with a burning torch, and the support of Father Time.
Rubens
A small selection of his instantaneous narrative paintings from 35 years of his career, mainly of Ovid’s myths, and Susanna and Elders.
A worked example of Poussin’s instantaneous narrative shows how a single image can tell a story, and examples of the fall of Icarus show the importance of timing.
Orpheus’ attempt to take his bride Eurydice back to life from the underworld fails when he looks back at her. He is later torn limb from limb by Bacchantes, and rejoins her.
Heracles unwittingly sets up his later death when he thinks the centaur Nessus is trying to abduct his wife Deianira, and shoots him in the back with one of his arrows poisoned with the blood of the Lernean hydra.
Heracles pays the penalty for multiple murders, as he is subjugated, stripped of his lion-skin and club, dressed in women’s clothing, and forced to serve Queen Omphale.
He has to steal the belt of the Queen of the Amazons, then steal the cattle of the monster Geryon. As a bonus, he gets two extra tasks, to steal the golden apples of the Hesperides, and finally to fetch Cerberus, guardian of the gates to the underworld.
1. Kill the Nemean Lion, by stunning it with his club then strangling it with his bare hands. 2. Kill the Lernean Hydra, by cutting off its heads and searing the wounds, then removing its remaining immortal head. 3. Capture the Ceryneian Hind.
The son of Zeus when he raped Alcmene, Hera delayed his birth to trap Heracles into being forced to undertake his 12 labours, then tried to kill the infant by putting serpents into his cradle.
King of Ithaca, he first feigns madness to dodge going to war against Troy, but then uses his cunning and ingenuity to design the Trojan Horse and conquer the city. Runs into trouble with Polyphemus during the return journey to Ithaca.
