Hephaistos or Vulcan in classical myth, cheated on by Aphrodite/Venus, and as creator of Pandora. In Bosch’s Last Judgement, and elsewhere.
Velázquez
Example paintings showing instantaneous, multi-image, multi-frame and polymythic narrative, from Poussin to Waterhouse.
A grand castle kitchen, the element fire, Vermeer’s milkmaid, a witch’s kitchen for Faust, a rotund cardinal tasting the sauce, and in a humble apartment in London.
The Roman goddess Minerva, the Greek statesman Solon, King Solomon, the three Magi, a ‘philosopher’ of Enlightenment, a scientist with a microscope, and the School of Athens.
From Rembrandt to Velázquez, Goya, Courbet and Fantin-Latour, reading group portraits can be complicated and demanding.
How Arachne came to a weaving contest against Minerva, but told the truth about gods and goddess, so was turned into a spider.
The helmets of Minerva, Bellona, Mars, Perseus, Achilles, Aeneas, the Knights of the Round Table, and Joan of Arc.
From Velázquez’s pioneering sketches of 1630, through Valenciennes in 1780, to Constable, Corot, and Pissarro, Manet and John Singer Sargent in the late 19th century.
A small selection of favourites from its huge and eclectic collection, from Duccio in about 1310 to Joseph Wright of Derby and a gem from Thomas Jones.
The stories of Venus and Mars, caught in bed together by her husband Vulcan, and the unrequited loves of Leucothoë and Clytie for the Sun.
The Eclectic Light Company 