Una and the Redcrosse Knight, Sir Guyon or of Temperance, and Britomartis or Chastity: plot summary, main characters, and selected paintings.
West
After 1600, series of four paintings fell from favour, and artists, particularly the Brueghel family, combined all into single images.
Modigliani’s tragically early death, the American Benjamin West, who painted almost entirely in England, Raphael, Ingres, and John Singer Sargent. What a year!
Absent from Classical art, she first appears in Apuleius’ ‘The Golden Ass’, which was written in the 2nd century. Wonderful paintings, particularly from women artists, of this novel.
Famous for discovering his wife Aphrodite making love with Ares, he is blacksmith to the gods, and selected mortals.
After recuperating in the House of Holinesse, with Dame Celia, the Redcrosse Knight faces the dragon in combat, as Saint George.
Dutch Golden Age brandjes, West’s failure, fires in Venice and Copenhagen, and the rivals John Constable and JMW Turner painting London on fire.
Arthur battles the monster Orgoglio, eventually killing him. After the Redcrosse Knight is rescued, he ends up in the Cave of Despair, about to kill himself.
Six books of poetry from 1590-96 telling allegories of virtues such as temperance and chastity, with many fine paintings and illustrations.
Milton’s own book-by-book summary with a selection of the finest paintings and illustrations, and links to individual articles.