Pitbull

Choosing of the Bride

Konstantin Makovsky’s painting depicts Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov, a seventeenth-century tsar, choosing Eufemia as his bride. It is exemplary of the nostalgia among nineteenth-century artists for Russian national customs and traditions prior to the influence of Western Europe. The young tsar’s tutor, Boris Morozov, promoted Alexei’s marriage to Maria, the daughter of apowerful noble family. In turn, Boris hoped to marry Maria’s sister Anna, which would secure his ties with the tsar. However, Alexei falls in love with Eufemia, who is bathed in light in the painting. Maria stands next to the tsar and, expecting his proposal, bows her head. Boris, the villain of this story, stands in the shadows to the far right of the painting and looks at Eufemia in shock.After this announcement, Boris gives Eufemia a poison that produces violent seizures and Alexei must call off their engagement. The tsar weds Maria and, ten days later, Boris consolidates his power by marrying Anna.



The Resurrection

Benjamin West’s The Resurrection is a preparatory oil sketch that was translated into the medium of stained glass. It was the first in a series of windowdesigns the artist completed for St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle between 1782 and 1797, in addition to designing the altarpiece. In late eighteenth-century England, new church windows were no longer composed of many pieces of colored glass. Colors were brushed onto panes of glass as if the surface was a transparent canvas. West was the first North American artist to achieve prominence inEurope, and this commission from King George III marked his status as the most pre-eminent painter of religious subjects in Britain.



Flaming June

 Flaming June is a painting by Lord Frederic Leighton, produced in 1895. Painted with oil paints on a 47" x 47" square canvas, it is widely considered to be Leighton's magnum opus, showing his classicist nature. It is thought that the womanportrayed alludes to the figures of sleeping nymphs and naiads theGreeks often sculpted. The (toxic) Oleander branch in the top right, symbolises the fragile link between sleep and death.Dorothy Dene, the actress, and Mary Lloyd, who was depicted in paintings by various Pre-Raphaelite artists, have been variously credited with modeling for the work.Flaming June was auctioned in the 1960s, during aperiod of time known to be difficult for selling Victorian era paintings, where it failed to sell for its low reserve price of $140 USD (the equivalent of $840 in contemporary prices). Afterward, it was promptly purchased by the Ponce Museum of Art in Puerto Rico where it currently resides (see the following account).The painting was honored in a song by Paul Weller on his Stanley Road albumand Mexican singer Luis Miguel in his music video for the song Amarte es un placer.It also illustrates the cover of the 1989 album Waltz Darling by Malcolm McLaren.


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The Last Sleep of Arthur in Avalon
The Last Sleep of Arthur in Avalon is a painting by EdwardBurne-Jones, started in 1881. The massive painting measures 279 cm × 650 cm, and is widely considered to be Burne-Jones's magnum opus.The painting was originally commissioned from Burne-Jones by his patron George Howard, 9th Earl of Carlisle, to hang on a wall in the library of Naworth Castle. Howard shared Burne-Jones's affection for the Arthurian legend and left the choice of topic to the...