Capturing a boar and taking it back to the king, who promptly hid in a bronze jar. Cleaning the Augean Stables in a single day. Killing poisonous birds with his arrows. Capturing the Cretan Bull. Stealing horses that liked to eat people.
Zurbarán
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.
That well-muscled man brandishing a large olive-wood club and wearing a lion-skin can only be the ultimate high-testosterone uncouth hero, Hercules.
When the centaur Nessus tried to abduct Hercules’ wife, he was impaled by an arrow. He set up the later death of the hero, who was destroyed by poison in his own arrow.
Who is this deeply troubled woman, only known for her attempted abduction by the Centaur Nessus? And how did she bring about Hercules’ death?
Should chiaroscuro paintings show much in the way of colour, given that in the dark only the rods in our retinas function, giving us monochrome vision?
A trip round the painter’s palette, with outstanding examples of well-known colours in use. Starts with yellow, then to red and finally to blue.
In myth and legend, apples have determined the future of civilisation twice. They’re also some of the most enduring objects to be seen in still life paintings.
Look for series covering the life and paintings of Raphael, the Swedish Anders Zorn, Amedeo Modigliani, and articles on others with anniversaries this year.
Some works by artists of the Spanish Golden Age, including El Greco, Jusepe de Ribera, Zurbarán, and a guest appearance from Rubens and polychrome wood carving.
The Eclectic Light Company 