Click image for a larger center.

Click image for a larger image of the left panel. 

Click image for a larger image of the right panel. 

Many great paintings like this one are hard to see or show on a blog - because they are painted on walls or ceillings. “Portable” painting on canvas are a modern “trend”.

So Paul Delaroche’s painting of the ceiling of the National School of Fine Arts in Paris is literally a neck breaking piece of art. I can show you only three fragments of the semi-circular painting - you have to stitch together in your mind. Some day someone will make a 3D panorama shot of this.

From Wikipedia:

The Hémicycle

In 1837 Delaroche received the commission for the great picture, 27 metres long, in the hemicycle of the award theatre of the École des Beaux Arts. The commission came from the Ecole’s architect, Felix Duban. This represents seventy-five great artists of all ages, in conversation, assembled in groups on either hand of a central elevation of white marble steps, on the topmost of which are three thrones filled by the creators of the Parthenon: architect Phidias, sculptor Ictinus, and painter Apelles, symbolizing the unity of these arts.

To supply the female element in this vast composition he introduced the genii or muses, who symbolize or reign over the arts, leaning against the balustrade of the steps, beautiful and queenly figures with a certain antique perfection of form, but not informed by any wonderful or profound expression. The portrait figures are nearly all unexceptionable and admirable. This great and successful work is on the wall itself, an inner wall however, and is executed in oil. It was finished in 1841, and considerably injured by a fire which occurred in 1855, which injury he immediately set himself to remedy (finished by Joseph-Nicolas Robert-Fleury); but he died before he had well begun, on the 4th of November 1856.

More? Paul Delaroche @ Wikipedia

Click image for more Death and Drama.

In the absence of mass media and the Internet in the old days it could take years or even decades before important scenes were framed and ‘archived’ for the public to see.

Word of mouth was often the only and the fastest ways to get the news. It must have been a strange time compared to our high speed lifestyles.

Just compare this ‘lonely painting’ to all the news, images, videos and dribble that has been written and broadcast about Princess Diana’s death.

Click image for a larger execution.

The drama, the tears, the brutality! I am actually surprised that so many old paintings are pretty bloodless. You rarely see gory scenes like in modern movies. This is especially surprising since those times were pretty bloody, so horrific scenes have been pretty normal to those people - not like us, who see violence and war only mostly on TV or made up movies.