01 Contemporary Interpretations, Olympian deities in classical Greek and Roman religion, with footnotes #4

Brian Smyth, Italy

A study for Andromeda

Oil on linen

Size: 20 H x 16 W x 1 in

Private collection

"I worked the painting from quick pencil sketches and photographs, as it was too difficult for the model to hold the pose over the duration of the painting process. I chose to add a more painterly, abstract background to the figure, to contrast with the more classical rendering of the model. I painted the painting oil on linen".

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 to sate the monster, but is saved from death by Perseus.

As a subject, Andromeda has been popular in art since classical times; it is one of several Greek myths of a Greek hero's rescue of the intended victim of an archaic hieros gamos, giving rise to the "princess and dragon" motif. From the Renaissance, interest revived in the original story, typically as derived from Ovid's account. More on Andromeda

Brian Smyth: "I was born in Cork City, in Ireland. I began my art studies at the Crawford College of Art and design. I studied there for four years and graduated. Starting the year I left college with a sell out exhibition in the Lavit gallery in Cork. In the following years, I continued to develop and fine tune my art practice, while participating in many exhibitions, both solo and group shows. I had solo exhibitions in Dublin, London,  and in Edinburgh at the Leith gallery. At the start of 2012 I decided to enrol at the Angel Academy in Florence, in order to learn more comprehensively the skills of drawing and painting, from life. I studied there for three years and upon graduation I was asked to stay on and become a senior art instructor there, specialising in drawing and painting from the live model. I worked there for three and a half years, teaching many students the techniques and principles of life drawing and painting. I decided to leave Angel Academy, to return to the world of painting full time. I continue to live in Florence where I periodically run workshops in portraiture and figure painting. I also give workshops in academic painting in Ireland. More on Brian Smyth

Please visit my other blogs: Art Collector, Mythology, Marine Art, and The Canals of Venice

Images are copyright of their respective owners, assignees or others. Some Images may be subject to copyright

I don't own any of these images - credit is always given when due unless it is unknown to me. if I post your images without your permission, please tell me.

I do not sell art, art prints, framed posters or reproductions. Ads are shown only to compensate the hosting expenses.

If you enjoyed this post, please share with friends and family.

Thank you for visiting my blog and also for liking its posts and pages.

01 Paintings, RELIGIOUS ART - Interpretations of the Bible! by The Old Masters, With Footnotes # 47b

Jean-Jacques Henner, 1829 - 1905

Saint Fabiola

copy of lost original

Saint Fabiola was a nurse (physician) and Roman matron of rank of the company of noble Roman women who, under the influence of the Church father St. Jerome gave up all earthly pleasures and devoted themselves to the practice of Christian asceticism and charitable work. More on Saint Fabiola

Jean-Jacques Henner (15 March 1829 – 23 July 1905) was a French painter. Henner was born at Bernwiller (Alsace). He began his studies in art as a pupil of Michel Martin Drolling and François-Édouard Picot. In 1848, he entered the École des Beaux Arts in Paris, and took the Prix de Rome with a painting of Adam and Eve finding the Body of Abel in 1858. In Rome, he was guided by Flandrin, and painted four pictures for the gallery at Colmar among other works.

Henner's most widely known work is his 1885 portrait of Saint Fabiola. Although the original is now lost, it was copied by artists around the world for devotional purposes. Artist Francis Alÿs has collected over 500 copies of the portrait in a variety of media. The collection, known as the "Fabiola Project," is on exhibit at the Byzantine Fresco Chapel of the Menil Collection in Houston from May 21, 2016 - May 13, 2018.

Henner died at age 76 in Paris. More Jean-Jacques Henner

Please visit my other blogs: Art Collector, Mythology, Marine Art, and The Canals of Venice

Images are copyright of their respective owners, assignees or others. Some Images may be subject to copyright

I don't own any of these images - credit is always given when due unless it is unknown to me. if I post your images without your permission, please tell me.

I do not sell art, art prints, framed posters or reproductions. Ads are shown only to compensate the hosting expenses.

If you enjoyed this post, please share with friends and family.

Thank you for visiting my blog and also for liking its posts and pages.

01 Painting, Interpretations of the Bible! by The Old Masters, With Footnotes # 47a

William Adolphe Bouguereau, (William Bouguereau) (1825-1905)

Le Saintes Femmes au Tombeau/ Three Marys at the Tomb, c. 1890

Oil on canvas

Private collection 

Le Saintes Femmes au Tombeau, 1890, translated to The Holy Women at the Tomb, depicts the three Marys, Mary the Mother of James, Mary Magdalene and Mary of Cleophas, at the tomb of the resurrection. The viewer, compositionally, is placed in a prostrated position and looking up first notices the expressions of bewilderment on the central Mary's face before looking past the three women and into the tomb. The tomb is filled with light and the viewer can only catch a glimpse of the "angel of the resurrection" with his arm raised. This is a very clever arrangement. The viewer feels as though they are there with the Marys and that they have stumbled onto this event, bringing it into the present. This painting was first exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1890, and though a critic after viewing the piece at that time said that Bouguereau "always showed the same thing", the perspective used in this painting and the overall composition is most original and was a tour de force of perspective and foreshortening; which can be clearly seen in the severe angle of the tomb entranceway. The painting now hangs in the collection of the Musée Royal des Beaux-Arts, Antwerp, Belgium. -by Kara Lysandra Ross

William-Adolphe Bouguereau (November 30, 1825 – August 19, 1905) was a French academic painter and traditionalist. In his realistic genre paintings he used mythological themes, making modern interpretations of classical subjects, with an emphasis on the female human body. During his life he enjoyed significant popularity in France and the United States, was given numerous official honors, and received top prices for his work. As the quintessential salon painter of his generation, he was reviled by the Impressionist avant-garde. By the early twentieth century, Bouguereau and his art fell out of favor with the public, due in part to changing tastes. In the 1980s, a revival of interest in figure painting led to a rediscovery of Bouguereau and his work. Throughout the course of his life, Bouguereau executed 822 known finished paintings, although the whereabouts of many are still unknown. More William-Adolphe Bouguereau

Please visit my other blogs: Art Collector, Mythology, Marine Art, Portrait of a Lady, The Orientalist, Art of the Nude and The Canals of Venice, Middle East Artists, and 365 Saints, also visit my Boards on Pinterest

Images are copyright of their respective owners, assignees or others. Some Images may be subject to copyright

I don't own any of these images - credit is always given when due unless it is unknown to me. if I post your images without your permission, please tell me.

I do not sell art, art prints, framed posters or reproductions. Ads are shown only to compensate the hosting expenses.

If you enjoyed this post, please share with friends and family.

Thank you for visiting my blog and also for liking its posts and pages.

Please note that the content of this post primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online.

01 Works, RELIGIOUS ART - CONTEMPORARY & 20th Century Interpretation of the Bible! With Footnotes - 23

Thomas Saliot, France

Eve

Oil on Canvas

63 H x 53.1 W x 0.4 in

Private collection

Eve is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. According to the creation myth of the Abrahamic religions, she was the first woman. In Islamic tradition, Eve is known as Adam's wife and the first woman although she is not specifically named in the Quran.

According to the second chapter of Genesis, Eve was created by God by taking her from the rib of Adam, to be Adam's companion. She succumbs to the serpent's temptation to eat the forbidden fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. She shares the fruit with Adam, and as a result the first humans are expelled from the Garden of Eden. Christian churches differ on how they view both Adam and Eve's disobedience to God, and to the consequences that those actions had on the rest of humanity. Christian and Jewish teachings sometimes hold Adam and Eve to a different level of responsibility for the fall, although Islamic teaching holds both equally responsible. More on Eve

Thomas Saliot: "I live in Morocco, France and Spain where i paint simple iconic images from the net or my life, like big oil sketches. I have been painting professionally for over thirty years. Sort of a child of Hopper, figurative and Pop art, i love colors, provocation and big canvas. More on Thomas Saliot

Please visit my other blogs: Art Collector, Mythology, Marine Art, and The Canals of Venice

Images are copyright of their respective owners, assignees or others. Some Images may be subject to copyright

I don't own any of these images - credit is always given when due unless it is unknown to me. if I post your images without your permission, please tell me.

I do not sell art, art prints, framed posters or reproductions. Ads are shown only to compensate the hosting expenses.

If you enjoyed this post, please share with friends and family.

Thank you for visiting my blog and also for liking its posts and pages.

01 Works, RELIGIOUS ART - CONTEMPORARY & 20th Century Interpretation of the Bible! With Footnotes - 22

Iva Troj, United Kingdom

Lamb / Embrace IV Revisited

Painting

35.4 H x 43.3 W x 2.4 in

Private collection

To me, this painting has all the of the Italian church paintings of their time. The Madonna, with Christ in her arms, receiving Saint Catherine who brings a flower as a gift. In the background would be John the Baptist, Christ's cousin, with the dove of piece flying over his head.

"I started painting "Like China" in 2013. I had a change of heart regarding the central figure and abandoned it for a slightly different, more traditional motif. Now, several years later, I discovered its potential and decided to revisit the painting, changing a lot of the surroundings and the central figure as well as adding a peacock to enhance the symbolic value of my storyline. I ended up with a more playful composition and a much more dynamic theme." Iva Troj

In Christianity the peacock symbolism represents the "all-seeing" church, along with the holiness and sanctity associated with it. Additionally, the peacock represents resurrection, renewal and immortality within the spiritual teachings of Christianity. More on Peacock Symbolism

In Christian culture, Passion flowers are primarily used to represent Christ’s suffering and sacrifice and each part of the flower represents a different aspect of the Passion of Christ.

White flowers such as white roses and lilies are used to stand for purity. They are also sometimes used in conjunction with references to the Virgin Mary for her own purity. Red roses in Christianity stand for love or as a sign of Christ’s blood. Church altars are often decorated with bouquets or vases of flowers, especially on significant days such as Easter and Christmas. Flowers play a large role at Christian funerals, baptisms and other special personal events.

Christian brides walk down the aisle with a bouquet of flowers as a token of fertility, while in earlier times it was common for them to wear a wreath or garland of flowers around their heads. More on flowers in Christianity.

Please visit my other blogs: Art Collector, Mythology, Marine Art, and The Canals of Venice

Images are copyright of their respective owners, assignees or others. Some Images may be subject to copyright

I don't own any of these images - credit is always given when due unless it is unknown to me. if I post your images without your permission, please tell me.

I do not sell art, art prints, framed posters or reproductions. Ads are shown only to compensate the hosting expenses.

If you enjoyed this post, please share with friends and family.

Thank you for visiting my blog and also for liking its posts and pages.