Frederick Sandys' "May Margaret"

Nationality: English
Born-Died: 1829- 1904

Creation Date: 1865-1866

Size: 17.5 x 11.5 inch (44.45 x 29.21 cm)
Media: Oil on canvas

J.W. Waterhouse's "Juliet"

Nationality: English
Born/Died: 1849-1917

Creation Date: 1898
Size: 18.3 × 27.5 in. (46.5 × 70 cm)
Media: Oil on canvas
Location: Private collection

Ford Maddox Brown's "The Pretty Baa-Lambs"

On this Day in the History of Art: Pontormo born (1494), "Mary Had a Little Lamb" published (1830)
Nationality: English
Born-Died: 1821-1893
Creation Date: 1851-1859
Media: Oil on wood panel
Size: 24 x 30 in. (61 x 76.2 cm)
Location: The Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery, Birmingham, UK

Thomas Cooper Gotch's "The Child Enthroned"

This painting is very unusual for its strict symmetry, which is a wonderful and powerful stylistic device that is rarely used to this extent. If you look carefully, however, you'll notice that there are subtle non-symmetrical areas, such as the positions of the hands (the hand on the right is slightly lower) and the lighting on the dress. This extreme unification lends an obvious seriousness and a purposefulness to the character of the child.

Through design, this painting perfectly exemplifies Ayn Rand's words: "Art brings man’s concepts to the perceptual level of his consciousness and allows him to grasp them directly, as if they were percepts."

Unusual Depictions of Jesus Week: Visual Interpretations of Miraculous Powers

Throughout history Christan mythology has been depicted with great variety. Because images of Jesus are so common in the history of art, I thought it would be interesting to explore some of the more unusual works.

If my memory serves me I do not think that the miracles performed in the New Testament have descriptions of visual phenomena. Perhaps there are bright lights with one or two, but usually the event just seems to occur without much visual grandeur associated with it. While halos and back-lighting are standard, there are not that many paintings of Jesus that show him performing acts accompanied by lights, shapes and colors. To me these images make Jesus look like some kind of wizard casting a magical spell.

William Holman Hunt's Christ and the Two Marys

Thomas Cooper Gotch's "The Child Enthroned"