A Lonesome Ruler

Ivan IV by the Russian painter Viktor Vasnetsov (1848-1926). Vasnetsov shows here the feared Ivan the Terrible as a lonesome ruler who seemed to be frozen by symbols and burden of his power.

Weary Warriors

Morning of the Battle of Agincourt 25th October 1415 (1884) by the English artist Sir John Gilbert (1817–1897). Gilbert started more as a craftsman. He did mostly illustrations and woodcuts for magazines like Illustrated London News Punch or The London Journal and books.
Anyway, I appreciate a lot his interpretation of the  the Battle of Agincourt. Old weary warriors are praying and awaiting their fate while above them are already flying the crows to feast on the dead.

Who Trusts a Cardinal

Afternoon Tea by the Italian classicist painter  Francesco Brunery (1849-1926). Brunery studied with Gérôme and was well known for his anti-clerical art. Here it looks like the older lady is hooking up the cardinal with a young girl, maybe her daughter or niece.

Another Highlight of History

Tsar Ivan IV Vasilyevich the Terrible conquers Kazan (1880) by the Russian painter Alexey Kivshenko (1851-1895). Kivshenko depicts here one of the great highlights of Russian history. The Russians now free from the Mongol yoke are now beating back and starting their own conquest.
It's easy to imagine that this painting was very popular as illustration in schoolbooks and so on.

Pleading for Compassion

Priamus at the Feet of Achilles pleading for the Body of Hector (1876) by the French painter Joseph Wencker (1848-1919). Despite the story nowadays is mostly forgotten it was a very popular subject in the 18th and 19th century. The old king softening the heart of the harsh and bitter hero.

Classical Exploitation

Summer Bath at Pompeii (1876) by the French painter Gustave Clarence Rodolphe Boulanger (1824-88). The classical scenery here is a mere smokescreen to present a bunch of stretching nudes.

Leftovers of an Army

French retreat in 1812 by the Russian painter Illarion Mikhailovich Pryanishnikov (1840 –1894). Here some poor survivors of the once so proud "Grande Armée" are walked to prison by poorly armed Russian peasants.

A Classical Mother

Cornelia, mother of the Gracchi (1785) by the Swiss/Austrian painter Maria Anna Angelica Catharina Kauffmann. As a women Kauffmann painted here a female heroine, Cornelia who was considered responsible for the education of her sons who became later very important politicians.

Finding Moses

Pharoah's daughter finds Moses (1886) by the British painter Edwin Longsden Long. This is a very traditional subject in art history and lots of painters made a version of that story. What's relatively new is the historical exotic touch. Long traveled to Syria and Egypt and was specialized in oriental paintings.

A Female Butcher

After the murder (1882) by the British painter John Collier (1850-1934). Collier depicted here Clytemnestra the wife of king Agamemnon. She killed her husband in the bath after he had returned from the Trojan war. But probably she got her reason. Agamemnon had sacrificed her daughter Iphigenia and brought for himself a new wife as a trophy from the war. Probably Collier got the same opinion because he shows her with an axe not with the usual dagger, so she looks strong and pround.

A British Hero

The Duke of Wellington at Waterloo by the British battle painter Robert Alexander Hillingford (1825-1904). Hillingford did a whole series of Waterloo paintings. Here he shows the Duke of Wellington encouraging one of his famous infantry squares the backbone of the British army then.

Faded Laurels

Faded Laurels (1889) by the British painter Edmund Blair-Leighton (1853-1922). Beautiful cheesy middle ages, could also be a scene from the Lord of the Rings.