A Queen in Chains

Zenobia’s Last Look on Palmyra by the British painter Herbert Gustave Carmichael Schmalz (1856-1935). Zenobia (240 – c. 275) was the Queen of the Palmyrene Empire in Roman Syria, who led a famous revolt against the Roman Empire. She ruled over Egypt until 274, when she was defeated and taken as a hostage to Rome by Emperor Aurelian.

One Brave Man

The_Agitator_of_Languedoc by the French painter Jean-Paul Laurens (1838-1921). Laurens shows here Bernard Délicieux was a Franciscan friar who resisted the Inquisition in Carcassonne and Languedoc in southern France. At last he was put on trial because of obstructing the Inquisition tortured and sentenced to life in prison in solitary confinement.

Religios fanatism was one of the great subjects of Laurens.

A King Defeated

Henry III, the King Who Lost His Common Sense by the Italian artist Fortunino Matania (1881-1963). Matania is best known for his realistic portrayal of World War I trench warfare, but did also a lot of illustrations for history books. Here he depicts hiw king Henry III is taken prisoner at the battle of Lewes in 1264.

Moonlight

A Reconnaissance (1902) by the American painter Frederic Remington (1861-1909). The title suggests a military task but it seems that the two men are watching the stars. So it seems that the real adventure here is more nature.

Heroic Defense

The Hospitalier Maréchal Guillaume de Clermont defending the walls at the Siege of Acre, 1291, by The French painter Dominique Papety (1815–49). The painting forms part of the over 120 paintings in The Salle des Croisades in the Palace of Versailles. The rooms were created in the mid-19th century by king Louis-Philippe, and opened in 1843, at a time when France was seized with enthusiasm with its historical past, and especially the Crusades period.