The last two years of his reign, marred by bad decisions, led to his forced abdication in favour of King Henry IV.
Wright
A summary history from 1700 to the 20th century, with examples of major paintings, and links to each of the detailed articles in this series.
Weaving turned yarn into fabric ready to make into garments. Associations include industry, passing time, fidelity, and the myth of Arachne.
How a shunned bride consummates her marriage without her husband being aware, and tricks him out of the ring he insists he’d never give her.
Are the two arms fending others off, raised in shock, surrender, or falling to earth? From light comedy to accounts of executions and war crimes.
In a remarkable series of chiaroscuro paintings, he tells stories from the Enlightenment of science, then of the ‘invention’ of painting.
Suppressed by the Reformation, narrative painting didn’t really get going in Britain until the early 18th century, but made up for lost time.
A traditional English farce, starring Sir John Falstaff, one of Shakespeare’s favourite characters, who sets out to seduce two married women.
As the tragedy moves relentlessly to the deaths of most of its characters, paintings by William Blake, Ford Madox Brown, and Benjamin West tells its story.
If you remember one Shakespeare play well, it’s Romeo and Juliet, shown here in paintings of the balcony scene, and the couple’s tragic deaths.
The Eclectic Light Company 