Published by Creative Education P O Box 227 Mankato Minnesota 56002 Creative Education is an imprint of The Creative Company www thecreativecompany us Design and production by Liddy Walseth Art direction by Rita Marshall Printed in the United States of America Photographs by Alamy The Art Gallery Collection The Print Collector Art Resource National Portrait Gallery Smithsonian Institution The Metropolitan Museum of Art Astrup Fearnley Museum for Modern Art The Bridgeman Art Library Boston Athenaeum Giraudon Corbis The Art Archive Tibor Bognar The Gallery Collection Francis G Mayer Summerfield Press Sandro Vannini Getty Images APIC Gustave Courbet DEA G NIMATALLAH De Agostini DEA M CARRIERI De Agostini Dorling Kindersley Imagno JGI Time Life Pictures Pix Inc Time Life Pictures Universal History Archive Peter Willi iStockphoto 221A Yanik Chauvin Donald Erickson John Holst Konstantin Kirillov Erik Lam Josef Muellek Graça Victoria The National Gallery Shutterstock 501room Refat shooarts SuperStock Fine Art Images Mauritius The Rubell Family Collection Copyright 2013 Creative Education International copyright reserved in all countries No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Bodden Valerie History paintings by Valerie Bodden p cm Brushes with greatness Includes bibliographical references and index Summary A survey of the painting genre that focuses on grand historical figures and scenes examining the genre’s origins and introducing its notable artists works and styles throughout history ISBN 978-1-60818-200-8 hard cover ISBN 978-1-56660-144-3 eBook 1 History painting I Title ND1440 B63 2012 758 99 dc23 2011040484 First edition 246897531 COVER GUERNICA BY PABLO PICASSO PAGE 2 THE THIRD OF MAY 1808 BY FRANCISCO DE GOYA 2
TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAP TERS LOOKING TO THEPAST HISTORICMASTERS M O D E R N H I S T O RY L E AV I N G H I S T O RY B E H I N D APPRECIATING ART T H E T R I B U T E M O N EY N A P O L E O N B O N A PA R T E V I S I T I N G T H E P L AG U E S T R I C K E N I N J A F FA B OYA R I N A M O R O Z OVA H I S T O RY O F M E X I C O RESOURCES G L O S S A RY SELECTEDBIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX 2 4 14 24 37 14 12 23 34 45 46 47 48
Looking To The PasT DETAILS FROM THE ALEXANDER MOSAIC ABOVE AND OPPOSITE A DEPICTION OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT OPPOSITE 4
for thousands of years artists have created images evoking battles myths and rulers from both ancient and more recent history In fact from about the 15th century to the mid-19th century history hunting in the marshes The tombs of Egyptian pharaohs or kings glorified the rulers and often included images of gods who were believed to escort the pharaohs to the afterlife Historic events were also featured in images on Egyptian furniture painting was considered the highest form and other objects of art throughout the Western world In ancient Greece too artists created serving to awe inspire and even teach historical works Many depicted stories viewers Although history painting has from mythology focusing on the Greek fallen in prominence in the last century gods or explaining phenomena such as its influence as an art form can still be the change of seasons Others presented felt in the way people view the important tales of heroes and kings Many of the events of the past surviving works of Greek history painting As the name suggests history are on vases few larger paintings from painting refers to works of art depicting ancient Greece remain intact In some past events This genre is not limited to cases however Roman artists made copies accurate portrayals of specific moments of earlier Greek paintings and some of in history however More often history those survive Among them is a work paintings picture an idealized version of known as the Alexander mosaic created a historical event They may also show for the floor of a large house in the city religious or mythological stories or of Pompeii around the year 90 B C It is episodes from literary works In general history paintings are physically large in scale and tell a story sometimes referred to as a narrative about a grand or heroic episode or incident Some of the earliest works picturing historical events can be found in the art of the ancient Egyptians Tomb paintings from as early as 3000 B C depict the daily activities of ancient Egyptians such as 5
