Tag: Hellenic
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01 Work, Interpretations of Hellenic and Roman legends. Salvator Rosa’s Interpretation of The Dream of Aeneas, with footnotes #190
In Book VIII of Virgil’s Aeneid, the Trojan hero Aeneas has landed in Latium, exhausted from the brewing hostilities with the local Rutili and their leader Turnus. “This way and that he turns his anxious mind; thinks, and rejects the counsel he designed; explores himself in vain, and gives no rest to his distracted heart.”…
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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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11 Work, Artists’ Interpretations of Hellenic legends, The Rape of Deianira, with footnotes #188
Hercules pursuing the centaur Nessus, who wants to kidnap his wife Dejanira. However, the scene only gives Veronese the opportunity to describe the involvement of the figures in the mysterious realm of nature — an old theme of Venetian painting. Veronese’s latest style can also be recognized by the clearly darkened, autumnal colors and the open brushstrokes.…
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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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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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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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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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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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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…
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01 Photograph, Tales of Mermaids, Ashlyn Orion’s The black mermaid, with Footnotes, #17
A mermaid is a marine creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. The first stories appeared in ancient Assyria. Mermaids can be benevolent or beneficent. Roberto Manetta is a traveling freelance photographer, Film and digital photography, since…
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04 Works, Helenic Carvings & Sculpture, With Footnotes #6
Minerva is the Roman goddess of wisdom and strategic warfare and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. From the second century BC onward, the Romans equated her with the Greek goddess Athena,[1] though the Romans did not stress her relation to battle and warfare as the Greeks did. More on Minerva Please follow link…
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06 Paintings, Olympian deities, The tale of Eurydice, with footnotes # 42
Eurydice was the wife of Orpheus, who loved her dearly; on their wedding day, he played joyful songs as his bride danced through the meadow. One day, Aristaeus, a minor god in Greek mythology, saw and pursued Eurydice, who stepped on a viper, was bitten, and died instantly… Please follow link for full post
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01 Work, Interpretations of Olympian deities, Francesco Furini’s Hylas and the nymphs, with footnotes #30
Hylas was the son of King Theiodamas of the Dryopians. After Hercules killed Hylas’s father, Hylas became a companion of Hercules. They both became Argonauts, accompanying Jason in his quest on his ship Argo in seeking the Golden Fleece. During the journey, Hylas was sent to find fresh water. He found a pond occupied by Naiads,…
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01 Painting, Arthur Hacker’s Sea-Maiden, with footnotes # 43
The Sea-Maiden is a Scottish fairy tale collected by John Francis Campbell in Popular Tales of the West Highlands, listing his informant as John Mackenzie, fisherman, near Inverary. Joseph Jacobs included it in Celtic Fairy Tales. More on The Sea-Maiden Arthur Hacker RA (St Pancras, Middlesex, 25 September 1858 – 12 November 1919 Kensington, London) was an English…
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01 Painting, Olympian deities, Walter Crane’s Pegasus, with footnotes # 41
Pegasus, in Greek mythology, a winged horse that sprang from the blood of the Gorgon Medusa as she was beheaded by the hero Perseus. With Athena’s (or Poseidon’s) help, another Greek hero, Bellerophon, captured Pegasus and rode him first in his fight with the Chimera and later while he was taking vengeance on Stheneboea (Anteia),…
Zaidan Gallery 