Trautmann was fascinated by the dramatic effects of light, especially red light. So he painted gypsies and robbers by their campfires, burning cities and historical or legendary disasters like the burning Troy. Here he dedicated all his skills to the destruction of Sodom. Lot is fleeing with his daughters and the statue of the mother is left behind. But they are more an excuse to paint the burning Sodom.
Just as most of his contemporaries Altdorfer painted normally religious scenes, but probably he was much more interested in landscapes which in many cases dominated his compositions.
Kramskoj depicts here Herodias the mother of Salome who was the mastermind behind the intrigue against John the Baptist. But in legend and in art she is frequently mixed up with Salome.
Long was primarily an Orientalist painter. He had travelled to Spain, Egypt and Syria to provide himself with inspirations for his lucrative paintings. The biblical subject is here a minor matter, it’s more a pretext to show some exotic nudes in a likewise exotic scenery.
It’s a typical classicist painting. The scenery is well known – Esther is losing consciousness before the great King. The architecture and the dresses are taken from the time of the painting.
Judith is lasciviously caressing the head of Holofernes. There is nothing historical in this painting - Judith is a modern woman, her hairstyle is that of the fin-de-siècle.
Cabanel was the preferred painter of Napoleon III and one of the leading representatives of the so called “L'art pompier”. He and William-Adolphe Bouguereau formed the strongest resistance against any modern art movement in the final decades of the 19th century.
Millais focuses on the despair of the father. His daughter is seating on his lap. Gazing into the void she is trying to comfort her father. The whole picture is a mournfully scenery of desperation.
