Tag: fineart
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1 Work, Artists Interpretations of Hellenic legends, Raffaello Sorbi’s Bacchanal, with footnotes #189
Bacchanalia, also called Dionysia, in Greco-Roman religion, any of the several festivals of Bacchus (Dionysus), the wine god. They probably originated as rites of fertility gods. Introduced into Rome from lower Italy, the Bacchanalia were at first held in secret, attended by women only, on three days of the year. Later, admission was extended to…
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01 Work, Contemporary Interpretations of Hellenic legends, Helen O’Shea as Leda from the Ziegfeld production of Leda and the Swan with footnotes #26
Photograph of Helen O’Shea as Leda from the Ziegfeld production of Leda and the Swan, ca. 1920s. A rare vintage black and white photograph of a Ziegfeld Follies revue dancer, Helen O’Shea, nude save the large white swan. Posed on toe upon a columniatied tiered pedestal, she seductively caresses the swan. On the verso is…
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01 Work, Contemporary Interpretations of Hellenic legend, Robert Brackman’s Muse, with footnotes #27
Muse, in Greco-Roman religion and mythology, any of a group of sister goddesses of obscure but ancient origin, in Boeotia, Greece. They were born in Pieria, at the foot of Mount Olympus. Very little is known of their cult, but they had a festival every four years at Thespiae. They probably were originally the patron…
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11 Works, November 22nd. is Consuelo Fould’s day, her art, illustrated with footnotes #239
Consuelo Fould, born November 22, 1862, in Cologne (Germany), arrived in France in 1864, with her parents, Valérie Simonin and Gustave Fould. She trained very young with her mother, a former actress who practiced sculpture with Mathieu-Meunier, also professor of Sarah Berhnardt… Please follow link for full post
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12 Works, November 21st. is Elisabeth Jerichau-Baumann’s day, her art, illustrated with footnotes #238
The picture is a concentrate of observations on travels 1869–70 and 1874–75 to Turkey, Greece and Egypt and must be described as one of Jerichau Baumann’s masterpieces. It is carried by a sensuality and coloristic boldness that is atypical of the Danish art of the period, but less marked by the pointed ethnocentrism that characterizes…
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19 Works, November 15th. is Aniello Falcone’s day, his art, illustrated with footnotes #235
Aniello Falcone (15 November 1600–1656) was an Italian Baroque painter, active in Naples and noted for his painted depictions of battle scenes. Some sources refer to him as Ancillo Falcone. Born in Naples the son of a tradesman, he showed his artistic tendency at an early age. He first received some instruction from a relative,…
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01 Painting, Olympian deities, Giuseppe Simonelli’s Battle of the Centaurs against the Lapiths, with footnotes # 47
The battle depicted takes place between the Lapiths and the Centaurs at the wedding feast of Pirithous. Pirithous, king of the Lapith, had long clashed with the neighboring Centaurs. To mark his good intentions Pirithous invited the Centaurs to his wedding to Hippodamia. Some of the Centaurs, over-imbibed at the event, and when the bride…
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05 Paintings of Olympian deities in classical Greek and Roman religions; Andromeda Chained to the Rock by the Nereids, with footnotes
In Greek mythology, Andromeda was the daughter of Cepheus and Cassiopeia, king and queen of the North African kingdom of Aethiopia (the Upper Nile region). Paul Gustave Louis Christophe Doré (6 January 1832–23 January 1883) was a French artist, printmaker, illustrator and sculptor. Doré worked primarily with wood engraving. Doré was born in Strasbourg on…
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10 Works, October 6th. is William D. Washington’s day, his story, illustrated with footnotes #218
In June 1862, twenty-nine-year-old Captain William Latané of the 9th Virginia Cavalry was the only Confederate killed during J. E. B. Stuart’s famous ride around Union general McClellan’s army during the Peninsula Campaign. After Latané’s death at Old Church in Hanover County, his brother John Latané removed the body to the Westwood plantation two miles…
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01 Painting, Olympian deities, FLEMISH SCHOOL’s Cephalus and Procris, with footnotes # 46
Cephalus was married to Procris, a daughter of Erechtheus, an ancient founding-figure of Athens. One day the goddess of dawn, Eos, kidnapped Cephalus when he was hunting. The resistant Cephalus and Eos became lovers, and she bore him a son. However, Cephalus always pined for Procris, causing a disgruntled Eos to return him to her, making…
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19 Works, October 4th. is Maximilian Lenz’s day, his story, illustrated with footnotes #216
Maximilian Lenz (4 October 1860, Vienna — 19 May 1948, Vienna) was an Austrian painter, graphic artist and sculptor. Lenz was a founding member of the Vienna Secession; during his career’s most important period, he was a Symbolist, but later his work became increasingly naturalistic. He worked in a variety of media, including oils, watercolours, lithography and…
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02 Paintings, Olympian deities, Antiope and Dirce, with footnotes # 45
Dirce was a daughter of the river-gods Achelous or Ismenus, or of Helios. After Zeus impregnated Antiope, Antiope fled in shame to King Epopeus of Sicyon, but was brought back by Lycus through force, giving birth to the twins Amphion and Zethus on the way. Lycus gave Antiope to Dirce. Dirce hated Antiope and treated…
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11 Works, October 2nd. is Willy Jaeckel’s day, his story, illustrated with footnotes #214
Willy Jaeckel (10 February 1888, Breslau — 30 January 1944, Berlin) was a German Expressionist painter and lithographer. Jaeckel’s father was a public lands manager and he originally intended to become a forest ranger, but poor health forced him to change his plans. From 1906 to 1908, he studied at the art school in Breslau, then enrolled…
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05 Works, Contemporary Interpretations of Olympian/Roman legend, Ceri Richards’ Rape of the Sabines, with footnotes #24
The theme of the rape of the Sabine women, taken from Roman legend, was a recurring subject in academic history painting. The story of the abduction of the women of the Sabine tribe by the men of Rome in order to populate the city presented a theme through which Richards could further his interest in…
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01 Sculpture, Olympian deities, Scipione Tadolini’s GREEK SLAVE, with footnotes
About the sculpture. This elegantly conceived figure of a Greek Slave is one of Scipione Tadolini’s defining masterpieces. Tadolini was the eldest son and inheritor of Antonio Canova’s principal studio assistant, Adamo Tadolini, and, like his father, he rapidly emerged as one of the leading sculptors in Rome during his lifetime. The superbly carved and…
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19 Works, Aug 19th. is Gerbrand van den Eeckhout’s day, his story, illustrated with footnotes #196
The Adoration of the Magi (anglicized from the Matthean Vulgate Latin section title: A Magis adoratur) is the name traditionally given to the subject in the Nativity of Jesus in art in which the three Magi, represented as kings, especially in the West, having found Jesus by following a star, lay before him gifts of…
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08 Mosaic , Olympian deities, Roman wall painting from Pompeii, with footnotes, #10
Eros brought by Peïtho to Venus; Anteros laughs at him because he is being punished for having chosen the wrong target. In Greek mythology, Peitho is the goddess who personifies persuasion and seduction. Her Roman equivalent is Suada or Suadela. She is the goddess of charming speech. She is typically presented as an important companion…
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01 Painting, Olympian deities, Louis Welden Hawkins’ Muse Erato on a Deserted Beach, with footnotes # 44
In Greek mythology, Erato is one of the Greek Muses. The name would mean “desired” or “lovely”, if derived from the same root as Eros, as Apollonius of Rhodes playfully suggested in the invocation to Erato that begins Book III of his Argonautica. Erato is the Muse of love poetry. In the Orphic hymn to the Muses,…
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01 Paintings, Olympian deities, Prague School’s Venus, Bacchus and Cupid, with footnotes # 43
Venus and Love/ Venus and Cupid. Different tales exist about the origin of Venus and Cupid. Some say that Venus, the goddess of love and beauty, had a love affair with Mars, the god of war. Out of this relationship, Cupid was born. Cupid has attributes from both of his parents. Like his mother he is considered…