History Painting Archive
Art forms defined by subject matter rather than an artistic style, including narrative religious mythological and allegorical subjects
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This dramatic illustration, “The Storm on the Sea of Galilee”, is painted by the Dutch Golden Age master Rembrandt. It is a dramatic depiction of the ‘calming the storm’ miracle done by Jesus. Jesus did many miracles in his lifetime including walking on water, cursing the fig tree, turning water into wine and many more. Those miracles and anecdotes made his apostles and followers have more faith in him. Though, as it is obvious in the stories, Jesus never exhibited his powers in public until it was a sheer necessity. Here, he is crossing the Sea of Galilee with his apostles and other Jewish people. The sea was known for its sudden storms and taking lives of people. Such a storm came across with this […]
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Apostles, Beautiful, Boat, Boatman, Famous, High tide, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Sea, Stolen, Storm, Waves
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This 1902, oil-on-canvas painting , “Attack on a Wagon”, is a work of an Old American West artist Charles Marion Russell known as the ‘cowboy artist’. It is a depiction of a bunch of red-Indians attacking on the wagon train of white men. The scene is from the time around mid-1800s, when the American government started to expand their lands. In this process, the wide-spread red-Indians across all of the USA were the main interruption for the government. Government used harsh techniques in the acquisition. By attacking on the tribes with much advanced and powerful weapons than those traditional Indians who had spears as the most advanced technology. To stay safe, some tribes leaned under and started to live on the lands given by the government. […]
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American, American Indian, Cart, Horse, Horsemen, Native American, Red Indian, Wagon Train
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A simple painting at first sight, about three soldiers waiting for something or on their way to somewhere is the creation of Viktor Vasnetsov. Though, the importance and reach of the painting is conceived when we know that this ranks as the most popular painting in Russia, pushing Morning in a Pine Forest by Ivan Shishkin at the second place. Seemingly simple painting holds a grand history. The soldiers are the three most popular Bogatyrs of Russian folklore and myths – Alyosha Popovich, Ilya Muromets and Dobrynya Nikitich. Bogatyrs were the folklore heroes who would fight against the enemies and protect the homeland. Anyone could have become a bogatyr, even a peasant. Ilya Muromets was such a peasant before he embarked on the journey of […]
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Horse, Horsemen, Knight, Peredvizhniki, Romanticism, Russian, Soldier, Symbolist, Warriors
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Washington crossing the Delaware is one of the historical moments in the America history which the German History painter Emanuel Gottlieb has depicted on the canvas by representing Washington and his comrades in a heroic manner. The crossing took place on December 25-26, 1776, to take down the Hessain forces in Trenton , New Jersey. It was the beginning of the ‘Ten Crucial Days’ about Washington’s endeavors for victory in New Jersey. It was supposed to be a surprise attack and that’s why it took place in total darkness. Though, artist has taken some liberty show the troops in the early morning for the clear visuals of the scene and people. Well, the painting gave the painter a huge success and name in the country […]
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American, American Flag, Boat, Boatman, George Washington, Ice, River
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Ivan the terrible of Russia, living up to his nickname even killed his elder son also named Ivan while having a quarrel over some family as well as military issues and disagreements between them. The history painting is painted by the highly known Russian painter Ilya Repin from 19th century who enjoyed fame in Russian paintings similar to Leo Tolstoy enjoyed in his art of fine literature. The subject unveils one of the most powerful Tsars of Russia and also the first Tsar who enjoyed the title of being “Tsar of All the Russias” for having the largest empire in his time. Firstly, acquiring the political and authorial skills being the Grand Prince of Moscow, he ascended to be the Tsar of Russia from 1547 […]
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Aristocrat, Chiaroscuro, Dead Man, Father, Murder, Realism, Royal, Russian, Russian Tsar, Son, Tsar
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The current picture is not a painting. It is a mezzotint engraving, a popular form of art in 17th and 18th century. The technique is still in use but its original form has become limited in use, after the new technologies and publication mediums. The current engraving is titled as Paradise Lost by John Martin. It was commissioned by Samual Prowett to John Martin fort the John Martin’s epic poem called Paradise Lost. His romantic depictions were of grand level and scale. It would often include big sceneries covering cities, mountains and lakes with dark themes. The current depiction represents the city of Pandemonium, the capital of hell, as described in the Paradise Lost. The term Pandemonium was also coined by John Milton which literally […]
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Angel, Mezzotint
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The most famous paintings in the world generally haven’t been found with any major historical events (except The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci and The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo). The subjects of most such paintings have been a portrait of a rich woman or a girl, a group or a portrayal of a landscape. The subject was nothing in particularly that much adorned or famous or important at the time those painting were being created. The subject got famous after the spectacular paintings by the painter got revealed towards the world and more importantly the unique features of those paintings which helped those paintings becoming famous. The represented painting, The Night Watch by Rembrandt van Rijn, doesn’t fit in the category. The subject […]
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Chiaroscuro, Dutch, Dutch Golden Age, Famous, Flemish, Girl, Gun, Man, Masterpiece
