Jacopo Tintoretto
The Origin of the Milky Way
Creation date: c. 1575
Learning Resource Slideshow
Jacopo Tintoretto
Sir Joshua Reynolds
Lady Cockburn and her three eldest sons
Creation date: 1773
Look
Look at all the elements and action in Reynolds’ busy painting of Lady Cockburn and her Three Eldest Sons. Write a list of everything you can see.
Think
Think about how Reynolds has turned a family portrait into one of grandeur. Within the scene, there is a macaw parrot. Where do these parrots come from? How did it come to be in England in the late 18th century?
Francisco de Goya
The Duke of Wellington
Creation date: 1812–14
Look
Look at how black the background is in this Goya portrait. There is nothing to distract the eye from the Duke of Wellington.
Think
The Duke of Wellington won a sea battle against Napoleon and altered the outcome of the Napoleonic Wars. Think about how war must change people. Look closely at the Duke’s face and describe what emotions you see.
Joseph Mallord William Turner
Ulysses deriding Polyphemus – Homer’s Odyssey
Creation date: 1829
Look
Look how Turner has captured a scene from the Roman epic The Odyssey. See if you can find the man-eating cyclops Polyphemus, partly hidden by the craggy cliff in the back, preparing to hurl a boulder on the ship.
Think
Think about how Turner merged a painting of a classical legend with an expression of nature’s dramas of light and energy and colour.
Claude Monet
The Water-Lily Pond
Creation date: 1899
Look
Look at Monet’s painting of a Japanese bridge in the garden he built in France. Can you decide what Monet is primarily interested in? Is it the scene in front of him or light and colour?
Think
Think about what sort of brushstrokes Monet used to create the image. What words would you use to describe those brushstrokes?