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| Jan Davidsz de Heem Memento Mori ca. 1630-60 oil on panel York City Art Gallery |
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| Peter Paul Rubens and Jan Brueghel the Elder Nature and Her Followers ca. 1615 oil on panel Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow |
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| attributed to Gerard Seghers Faith, Hope and Charity before 1651 oil on panel Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge |
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| Pietro da Cortona Faith, Hope and Charity ca. 1640 oil on canvas Courtauld Gallery, London |
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| Antonio Zucchi Allegorical Subject in Classical Dress 1767 oil on canvas National Trust, Nostell Priory, Yorkshire |
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| Albert Freyse Allegory of Virtue ca. 1640-50 oil on panel Manchester Art Gallery |
from Allegory
In the Forest of Wearisome Sadness,
Where one day I found myself wandering alone,
I met my heart, who called to me, asking me where I was going.
The path was long and straight, row after row of conifers receding
To a horizon that because of the geometry
Seemed farther than it really was,
Like the door at the top of a staircase in Versailles.
But as if the forest's maker had been offended by elegance,
A pile of rocks disrupted the rows: the forest once
Had been a field. I remember that field.
I was carried there by my father, beside him
My grandfather, who planted the trees.
Until they were tall enough to survive,
He mowed the field, piling up rocks, taking down brush with a scythe.
How, since I've known the forest almost since birth, could I have been lost?
Why, since the forest is beautiful, is it not a place of delight?
Repeatedly I asked these questions of my heart,
But like a good physician, he elected
To keep silent, leaving me to answer for myself.
– James Longenbach (2013)
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| James Thornhill Allegorical Figures - Britannia enthroned with Concord, Learning and Justice (painted panel from the Royal State Coach of King George I) ca. 1718 oil on panel Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
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| James Thornhill Allegorical Figures - Clemency, Prudence and Justice (painted panel from the Royal State Coach of King George I) ca. 1718 oil on panel Victoria & Albert Museum, London |
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| Angelica Kauffmann Colour ca. 1778-80 oil on canvas Royal Academy of Arts, London |
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| Angelica Kauffmann Composition ca. 1778-80 oil on canvas Royal Academy of Arts, London |
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| Angelica Kauffmann Invention ca. 1778-80 oil on canvas Royal Academy of Arts, London |
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| attributed to Jacob de Wit Putti enacting an Allegory of Architecture ca. 1750-54 oil on canvas The Wilson, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire |
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| attributed to Jacob de Wit Putti enacting an Allegory of Music ca. 1750-54 oil on canvas The Wilson, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire |
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| Jacob de Wit Putti enacting an Allegory of Summer 1739 oil on canvas (grisaille) National Trust, Kingston Lacy, Dorset |
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| Jacob Huysmans after Anthony van Dyck Cupid preparing his Bow before 1696 oil on canvas National Trust, Kingston Lacy, Dorset |