A legend, possibly based on fact, has it that Phryne, a fabulously rich concubine of outstanding beauty in ancient Greece, was on trial for her life, for murder for which she was assuredly guilty. Her counsel opted for a dazzling defence, literally: he disrobed her in front of the judges....
Botticelli’s masterpiece is a complicated painting and experts still argue over its meaning. It is also a very full painting with the three Graces, Venus, Mercury, Cupid, Zephyr, blowing on the nymph Chloris and the figure she metamorphosed into, Flora, scattering flowers. In 2007...
Susanna and the Elders was a popular Old Testament subject with painters. There are innumerable versions by Rembrandt, Reni, Millet, Lotto, Van Dyck, and this one by Tintoretto, who curiously copied Susanna's pose from Giorgione's Tempest, the serenity of which I have 'borrowed'...
I went to Art College in Kingston, London, on the banks of a shallow, weedy and unremarkable river with the evocative name of Hogsmill. We were told in History of Art that Millais painted his famous picture further up-stream. Millais’ model was Elizabeth Siddal wife of his friend and...
Botticelli’s Birth of Venus is one of those paintings that is immediately familiar even to those who know little or nothing of art. For this reason it was chosen to launch the series “Le Belle nell’Arte” in an Italian regional newspaper based in Rimini. The image was so instantly...
Orpheus and Eurydice, one of the best known and heart rending myths. The gifted Orpheus whose music was so lovely that he charmed not only women and ferocious beasts but even the trees and rocks. He fell in love with the beautiful nymph Eurydice but on their wedding day she was assaulted...
"In the beginning was the Word and the Word was the beginning of the end for the White Goddess. Amongst animals only man is conscious of his place in the world, only man realises that time passes, that he is mortal. As the word took over, as Adam delved and Eve span, the superior power of...
There is a glade near Lake Bolsena of such uncommon beauty that all those who set foot there remain enchanted for ever. This is an Etruscan place, but it could well be even older as a place of worship. The Sacred Glade was Christianised, but something of the magic remained: the frescoes...
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