Viking Funeral

The Funeral of a Viking (1893) by the British painter Sir Frank Bernard Dicksee (1853-1928).

Dicksee was a typical Victorian painter who exploited historical subjects in a manner which is still considered as Pre-Raphaelite style even though it has absolutely nothing to do with that.

Here he shows a highly dramatic scene where the Vikings are clad in Gallic armor including the stupid horned helmets invented by Wagnerian stage designers. To to me it seems more than stupid to push a longship through the surf.
It is safe to assume that the whole scenery is as false as the costumes, but this didn’t stop the popularity of the work which was used in 1990 as a cover of a heavy metal cd.

Historical Landscape

Landscape with Aeneas at Delos (1672) by the French Baroque painter Claude Lorrain, (1600-1682).

Lorrain was famous above all for his landscape paintings, mostly showing classical architecture and a seaport. He preferred historical subjects, which gave him the reason to paint his beloved classical architecture.

A Tragically Capitulation

Vercingétorix surrendering to Caesar (1886) by the French history painter Henri-Paul Motte (1846-1922).

The proud Gallic chieftain is leaving the besieged Alesia in 52 BC to surrender to the Romans. Motte depicted here a national hero surrendering to a foreign superior machinery of war. So it’s probably a reference to the French capitulation to the Prussians in 1871.

Columbus before the Queen

Columbus before the Queen (1843) by the German American history painter Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze (1816–1868).

Leutze depicted here the dramatic moment when Columbus was released from prison to defend his cause before the Catholic monarchs. On the floor are lying still his shackles indicating his imprisonment and the queen has turned her head away ashamed. Besides the magnificent costumes Leutze dedicated a great effort to the architecture on the Alhambra palace in Granada where the meeting took place.

Erotic Priestess

The Delphic Oracle (1899) by the British painter John William Godward (1861 –1922). Godward was a protégé of Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadelma and had great success at the end of the 19th century.
Here he depicted the Oracle of Delphi, the so called "Pythia", sitting on a tripod breathing the volcanic vapors which are rising from a crack in the floor.

But despite all these historical well done details it’s the gorgeous body of the young girl which attracts the onlooker. So it’s in the end pure exploitation disguised as history lesson.

Historical Landscape

Thingvellir (1897) by the British painter William Collingwood (1819-1903). Collingwood was a well known watercolor landscape painter and depicted here the Althing (Alþingi) in medieval Iceland, which was probably the oldest parliament in Europe. I think that it’s intentional how people and tents are integrated into the landscape, so that this archaic democratic tradition becomes part of it.

Cloudy Visions

Napoleon Near Moscow, Waiting for a Boyar Deputation (1891-1892) by the Russian painter Vasily Vasilyevich Vereshchagin (1842-1904). Vereshchagin depicted here Napoleon in a very symbolic way. Despite the dust clouds may be realistic they illustrate much more the treacherous illusion of Napoleons victory. There was nothing gained and soon all will be gone.

Nordic Rococo

Freja Seeking her Husband (1852) by the Swedish painter Nils Blommér (1816-1853). Blommér was greatly influenced by late German Romanticism and turned to national mythology like so many of this movement.

Here he shows the Nordic goddess of love and fertility Freya in her cart drawn by cats. Despite that’s not surprising for a Pre-Wagnerian artist, the false historical construction reveals itself by the baroque angels, who have nothing Nordic at all, so it’s much more a kind of post-rococo kitsch.

The Spirit of Russian Past

Two book illustrations by the great Russian artist Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin (1876-1942). Bilibin was probably the most influential art nouveau illustrator in Russia. He himself studied under Ilya Repin and was later fascinated with old folkloric Russian art of the Russian North.

Despite there are many historically correct details in his illustrations he never pretended to be "realistic" like so many academic painters at this time. He tired much more to catch the spirit of Russian past.

A Bloody Struggle

Saragossa 10 February 1809 by the British painter Harold Hume Piffard (1895-1938).

Piffard depicts here the bloody struggle in a church during the siege a Saragossa. The defending Spanish priests are showing even more bloodlust than their French adversaries. And to me it seems that the priest in center is not praying peace or forgiveness, it looks much like some kind of exorcism.

Theatrical Costumes

Cover of The Saturday Evening Post 1934 by the great American artist Joseph Christian Leyendecker (1874-1951).

Sure, that’s no history painting, but Leyendecker refers to that kind of history fashion, where stuffy bourgeois went dressed up as Romans. It’s kind of the same fashion that favored painters like Waterhouse or Alma-Tadelma. There are the nice costumes and the great gestures. A really nice cartoon full of Leyendecker’s cutting irony.

Fallen from Grace

Mariamne Leaving the Judgment Seat of Herod (1887) by the British painter John William Waterhouse (1849-1917).

Mariamne I was the second wife of Herod the Great. She was famous for her beauty, but because of her conflict with Salome the sister of Herod she was finally convicted and executed in 29 BC. It’s said that Herod grieved for her for many months.

Waterhouse depicts here the queen on her way to prison and the grieving king. But more than in this story he seemed to be interested in the historical details, the marble the magnificent architecture. Academic history painting is already on its way to pure decoration.