Hunt, William Holman (1827-1910) Rienzi vowing to obtain Justice 1849 Oil on canvas, 83 x 117 cm National Gallery, London Cola di Rienzo vowing to obtain justice for the death of his young brother, slain in a skirmish between the Colonna…
Siddal, Elizabeth (1829-1862) King Arthur’s Death c.1859–1862 Graphite, 17.5 x 27.3 cm Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton Siddall was an artist, poet, model, and wife of the Pre-Raphaelite painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Although this drawing only outlines the event of King…
Nadar (1820-1910) Victor Hugo sur son lit de mort (Victor Hugo on His Deathbed) 1885 Albumen print, 19.6 x 23.8 cm Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo Compare: Nadar (1820-1910) Victor Hugo sur son lit de mort 1885 Getty Center, Los Angeles See…
Tintoretto, Jacopo (1518-1594) San Giorgio e il drago (Saint George and the Dragon) c.1555 Oil on canvas, 158.3 × 100.5 cm National Gallery, London Saint George plunges his lance into the jaws of the dragon which, according to legend, inhabited the…
Redon, Odilon (1840-1916) Ophélie parmi les fleurs (Ophelia among the Flowers) c.1905–1908 Pastel on paper, 64 × 91 cm National Gallery, London Odilon Redon (1840–1916) frequently made reference to both classic and contemporary literature in his work, and the subject of…
Géricault, Théodore (1791-1824) Tête d’homme guillotiné (Head of a Guillotined Man) 1818–1819 Oil on panel, 48.5 × 29.6 cm Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago Théodore Géricault painted this macabre image directly from life. The artist is known to have acquired corpses from…
Carpaccio, Vittore (c.1460-c.1526) Meditazione sulla passione (The Meditation on the Passion) c.1490 Oil and tempera on wood, 66.5 × 84.5 cm Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York This remarkable picture is a meditation on death and resurrection. Christ’s dead body is displayed…
Bernhardt, Sarah (1844-1923) Portrait funéraire de Jacques Damala (Funerary Portrait of Jacques Damala) c.1889 Marble, 27.9 x 46 x 31.1 cm Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York The great tragic actress, Sarah Bernhardt, was also a gifted sculptor. She carved this…