Freudian Nightmares

Salome by the French Symbolist painter Gustave-Adolphe Mossa (1883-1971) probably painted in the first decade of the 20th century.

Mossa uses the old biblical story to illustrate the fear of man slaughtering Lolitas. His blood licking child-woman is a modern Freudian interpretation of male nightmares.

Hagar Saved

Hagar and Ismael in the Widerness (1732) by the Italian rococo painter Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1696-1770).

Poor Hagar and Ismael are nearly dying when the angel appeared. Despite all this suffering in the hostile desert Hagar is still a well dressed rococo lady with a perfect hairstyle and makeup.

Another Perfect Nude

Lot and his daughters by the Flemish manierist painter Jan Massys (c. 1509-1575).

One more of Massys’ perfect nudes. It’s interesting to compare this painting with his Bathsheba. The similarities are evident. Both paintings are mere constructions around that perfectly painted nudes, the burning Sodom and the mother in the back provide the historical background.

Art Deco Susanna

Susanna bathing by the Polish Art Deco painter Tamara de Lempicka (1898-1980).

Lempicka was a great star of the art scene in the 1920s and 1930s. Her Susanna is a modern woman of the 1930s and there is absolutely no sign of historicization.

Exotic Women finding Moses

The Discovery of Moses (1888) by the Canadian painter Paul Peel (1860-1892).

Peel studied in London and later at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris under Gérôme and others. So it isn’t surprising that his painting reminds a lot of that works by Alma-Tadema or Gérôme who had great success with women in exotic or historical settings.

Fainting Queen Esther

Queen Esther before. King Ahasuerus (c. 1815) by the Slovenian painter Francesco Caucig (1755-1828).

Although Caucig is a lesser known artist his painting is a good example of the neoclassical style which dominated art at from the end of the 18th century. Interesting is also that Caucig didn’t use an entire classical scenery but rather something more oriental, that’s probably a result of the influence of historical studies.

Lament of Jephthah's Daughter

The Lament of Jephthah's Daughter by the Britisch Victorian painter George Elgar Hicks (1824-1914).

Hicks was specialized in romantic settings with a dramatic illumination. And in this way he painted here the poor child lamenting her sacrifice.