Tag: Roman
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01 Painting, Olympian deities, by the Old Masters, Giovanni Domenico Cerrini’s Diana, with footnotes # 40
Estimated at £15,000 – £20,000 in December 2019 In Roman mythology, Diana was the goddess of the hunt, the moon and nature being associated with wild animals and woodland, and having the power to talk to and control animals. She was eventually equated with the Greek goddess Artemis, though she had an independent origin in Italy. Diana was worshipped…
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01 Work, Contemporary Interpretations of Olympian deities, B A H M A N’s Leda, with footnotes #33
Leda, in Greek legend, usually believed to be the daughter of Thestius, king of Aetolia, and wife of Tyndareus, king of Lacedaemon. She was also believed to have been the mother (by Zeus, who had approached and seduced her in the form of a swan) of the other twin, Pollux, and of Helen, both of whom…
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01 Work, Interpretations of Olympian deities, Titian’s Perseus and Andromeda, with footnotes #31
In Greek mythology, Andromeda is the daughter of the Aethiopian king Cepheus and his wife Cassiopeia. When Cassiopeia’s hubris leads her to boast that Andromeda is more beautiful than the Nereids, Poseidon sends a sea monster, Cetus, to ravage Aethiopia as divine punishment. Andromeda is stripped and chained naked to a rock as a sacrifice…
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01 Work, Interpretations of Olympian deities, Francesco Furini’s Venus Mourning the Death of Adonis, with footnotes #32
One day while out hunting Adonis was slain by a wild boar, an accident Venus has always dreaded. Hearing his dying groans as she flew overhead in her chariot, she came down to aid him, but was too late. In the place where the earth was stained with Adonis’ blood, anemones sprouted. In Greek mythology,…
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04 Paintings, Contemporary Interpretations of Olympian deities; Betsy Podlach’s Leda And the Swan, Cupid and Psyche, István Cene gál’s Nymph and Brian Smyth’s Andromeda, with footnotes, #3
Cupid and Psyche is a story originally from Metamorphoses, written in the 2nd Century AD by Lucius Apuleius Madaurensis. It concerns the overcoming of obstacles to the love between Psyche and Cupid, and their ultimate union in a sacred marriage. Although the only extended narrative from antiquity is that of Apuleius, Eros and Psyche appear…
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11 Works, Artists’ Interpretations of Hellenic legends, The Rape of Deianira, with footnotes #188
Deianira, Deïanira was a Calydonian princess in Greek mythology whose name translated as “man-destroyer” or “destroyer of her husband”. She was the wife of Heracles and, in late Classical accounts, his unwitting murderer, killing him with the poisoned Shirt of Nessus. She is the main character in Sophocles’ play Women of Trachis… Please follow link…
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01 Painting, Tales of Mermaids, Evelyn De Morgan’s Sea Maidens, with Footnotes, #13
The Sea Maidens shows five long-haired mermaids. Their tails are inside the water, while their upper bodies are outside. They affectionately hold hands, four of them almost embracing, reaching for a fifth one, slightly separated from the group. It is a delicate depiction of sisterhood; it emanates strength by boasting an iconography of femininity at…
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01 Work, Olympian deities, Paolo de Matteis’ Amphitrite, with footnotes #30
Amphitrite, in Greek mythology, the goddess of the sea, wife of the god Poseidon, and one of the 50 (or 100) daughters (the Nereids) of Nereus and Doris (the daughter of Oceanus). Poseidon chose Amphitrite from among her sisters as the Nereids performed a dance on the isle of Naxos. Refusing his offer of marriage, she…
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01 Work, Olympian deities, Nicolas Bertin’s Perseus and Andromeda, with footnotes #31
In Greek mythology, Andromeda is the daughter of the Aethiopian king Cepheus and his wife Cassiopeia. When Cassiopeia’s hubris leads her to boast that Andromeda is more beautiful than the Nereids, Poseidon sends a sea monster, Cetus, to ravage Aethiopia as divine punishment. Andromeda is stripped and chained naked to a rock as a sacrifice…
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01 painting, The amorous game, Luis Ricardo Falero’s young player with the statue of Pan, with Footnotes, #91
In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Pan is the god of the wild, shepherds and flocks, rustic music and impromptus, and companion of the nymphs. He has the hindquarters, legs, and horns of a goat, in the same manner as a faun or satyr. With his homeland in rustic Arcadia, he is also recognized as the god…
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01 Work, Olympian deities, Angelo Josef Graf von Courten’s Die Nixe, with footnotes #29
The Nixe is a term widely used in German-speaking countries for a female or male water spirit; a kind of supernatural being found in the folklore of many cultures. Angelo Josef Graf von Courten (born January 10, 1848 in Bologna , † December 15, 1925 in Munich ) was a German painter of Swiss descent. Courten came…
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39 Works by 39 Old Masters Artists Embedded with Helen of Troy, with Footnotes
Throughout his career, Gustave Moreau showed remarkable fidelity to the character of Hélène de Troie by devoting an exceptionally rich ensemble to her. Main rival of Salomé in the heart of the artist, the most beautiful woman of antiquity appeared in his work in 1852, then returned triumphantly in the company of Galatea on the…
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01 Work, Interpretations of Olympian deities, Nicolaus Knupfer’s Theseus Proposing to Phaedra, with footnotes #29
Phaedra is a tragic play by Roman playwright Seneca. The play tells the story of Theseus’ wife Phaedra and her lust for her stepson, Hippolytus. However, Hippolytus despises women and wishes to remain pure, preferring to hunt and live in the woods. After Phaedra declares her love, Hippolytus lashes out and strikes to kill her for…
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01 Painting, Olympian deities, Francesco Furini’s Hylas and the nymphs, with footnotes # 39
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 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…
Zaidan Gallery 