Normally drawn by 2-4 horses, you can sometimes identify deities by the creatures shown towing their chariot, from black horses to domestic cats.
Tiepolo
Ajax goes mad, then falls on his sword. The Greeks are told they need their master-archer and Achilles’ son, but still have to come up with a way of entering the city of Troy.
Leonardo da Vinci studied different types of shade and shadow, but recommended painters not to depict cast shadows in their paintings. This explains why.
Examples of putting figures in the spotlight from paintings of Tiepolo, David, Goya, Gérôme, Thomas Eakins, and others.
Achilles acquires himself a concubine, as does his commander Agamemnon. When the latter is forced to return his, and takes Briseis from Achilles, there’s trouble.
The origins of Troy explained, Helen as a princess of Troy, and Menelaos raises an expeditionary force under the command of Agamemnon. Without wind, though, their ships can’t sail.
Series telling the whole Epic Cycle from Zeus’s decision to reduce the mortal population, to the death of Odysseus.
Transformations of Chloris into Flora, Daphne into a laurel tree, and Actaeon into a stag which is promptly killed by his own hunting dogs.
The popular story of the Judgement of Solomon is a great challenge for visual art. Here are some of the better attempts at solution, from Raphael to Blake.
Why is the Virgin Mary standing on a snake with a part-eaten apple in its mouth? And which painting of her was banned from display in Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome?
