A City Founder

The Foundation of Saint Petersburg by the German-Russian painter Alexander Ewstafijewitsch von Kotzebue (1815-1889). Kotzebue depicted here Tsar Peter the Great as a the visionary founder of the city. Artisans and architects are fascinated at his feet while he is dramatically illuminated.

Kind of Nature

Battle of Svolder (1883) by the Norwegian painter Otto Ludvig Sinding (1842-1909). Sinding depicted here the decisive battle which resulted in the independence of Norway. Quite normal work that far, but more interesting is that he was much more famous for his landscape paintings of the wild Lofoten Islands. And because of that, I think, his battle painting is much more about the sea in the North and the light there than about that battle itself.

Merry Old Times

Bacci Ball (1880) by the Italian painter Ludovico Marchetti (1853-1909). Marchetti was specialized in sweet scenes settled in the Orient or in an innocent past, in this case mostly early 18th century.

A New Start

The Landing of the Pilgrim Fathers by the Anglo-American painter George Henry Boughton (1834-1905). One of the great foundation myths of the United States. The men are pious but armed, few in a deserted hostile world. Looks nothing inviting at all, their new world.