Pisceans - IV

Johanne Hansen-Krone
Young Man by the Sea
1981
oil on canvas
Stortingets Kunstsamling, Oslo

Josef Hegenbarth
Bathers on a Raft
ca. 1945
oil on board
Galerie Neue Meister (Albertinum), Dresden

workshop of Nicolaes Maes
Bathing
ca. 1655-60
oil on canvas
Musée du Louvre

Max Liebermann
Swimmers
1875-77
oil on canvas
Dallas Museum of Art

Paul Cézanne
Bathers
ca. 1879-82
oil on canvas
(formerly owned by Henri Matisse)
Musée du Petit Palais, Paris

Giovanni Francesco Grimaldi
Landscape with Scene under an Awning
ca. 1678
oil on copper
Galleria Borghese, Rome

Cornelis van Poelenburgh
Landscape with Bathing Shepherds
ca. 1630
oil on copper
Museumslandschaft Hessen Kassel

Eugène Boudin
Herd Drinking
ca. 1880-95
oil on canvas
Musée des Beaux-Arts de Reims

Abraham Govaerts
Scene around a Pond with Animals
ca. 1620
oil on copper
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

Domenichino (Domenico Zampieri)
Landscape with a Ford
ca. 1605-1607
oil on canvas
Palazzo Doria Pamphilj, Rome

Jan Siberechts
The Ford
1665
oil on canvas
Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp

Jan Brueghel the Elder
Jonah and the Whale
ca. 1597-98
oil on panel
Alte Pinakothek, Munich

Anders Zorn
Bathers
1917
etching
Prins Eugens Waldemarsudde, Stockholm

Karl Friedrich Schinkel
Landscape with Children Bathing
1812
oil on canvas
Alte Nationalgalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin

Peder Severin Krøyer
Skagen - Summer Day
1884
oil on canvas
Hirschsprung Collection, Copenhagen

Peder Severin Krøyer
Skagen - Summer Evening
1893
oil on canvas
Hirschsprung Collection, Copenhagen

Theagenes and Charikleia, and Knemon too, suddenly took stock of all the troubles that beset them.  They seemed to want to form a plan, but the extent of their past woes, the hopelessness of their present predicament, the uncertainty of the future, clouded their intellects.  For a long time they stared at one another, each expecting the others to speak; but meeting only with silence, they averted their eyes towards the ground, then raised their heads and drew a deep breath, easing with a sigh the pain that pressed heavy on their hearts.  Finally Knemon lay down on the ground.  Theagenes slumped onto a rock, and Charikleia flung herself on top of him.  For as long as they could they kept at bay the sleep that assailed them, for they wanted desperately to devise a strategy against their present plight; but eventually they were compelled to obey the law of nature and yield to their lassitude and fatigue.  They slipped into a sweet slumber, so intense was their sorrow.  Thus it is that sometimes the conscious mind consents to accede to bodily pain.

– Heliodorus, from The Aethiopica, or, Theagenes and Charikleia (3rd or 4th century AD), translated from Greek by J.R. Morgan (1989) 

Pisceans - III

Oscar Björck
Launching the Boat
1888
oil on canvas
Skagens Museum, Denmark

Carl Bloch
Young Sailor
1874
oil on copper
Hirschsprung Collection, Copenhagen

Ditlev Conrad Blunck
Infancy
(Four Ages of Man)
ca. 1840-45
oil on canvas
Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen

Ditlev Conrad Blunck
Youth
(Four Ages of Man)
ca. 1840-45
oil on canvas
Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen

Ditlev Conrad Blunck
Manhood
(Four Ages of Man)
ca. 1840-45
oil on canvas
Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen

Ditlev Conrad Blunck
Old Age
(Four Ages of Man)
ca. 1840-45
oil on canvas
Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen

Arnold Clementschitsh
Over the Water
ca. 1920-30
oil on board
Graphische Sammlung Albertina, Vienna

Solomon Corrodi
Coast of the Island of Capri
1835
watercolor on paper
Hamburger Kunsthalle

Hendrik Jacobsz Dubbels
Seascape
ca. 1655-60
oil on canvas
Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden

Albert Edelfelt
At Sea
1883
oil on canvas
Göteborgs Konstmuseum, Sweden

Carl Locher
Fishing Boats in Moonlight
1888
oil on canvas
Skagens Museum, Denmark

Sebastiano Ricci
The Miraculous Draught of Fishes
ca. 1695-97
oil on canvas
Detroit Institute of Arts

Karl Schnebel
Sport im Bild
(magazine)
ca. 1910
lithograph (poster)
Kunstbibliothek, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin

Joseph Mallord William Turner
Keelmen heaving in Coals by Moonlight
1835
oil on canvas
National Gallery of Art, Washington DC

Claude-Joseph Vernet
Fishing Port at Dawn
1774
oil on canvas
National Museum, Warsaw

Anders Zorn
In My Gondola
1894
oil on canvas
Zornmuseet, Mora, Sweden

It was to Thisbe that Thermouthis was hurrying, confident that she had escaped the perils of war.  He landed on the island and ran as fast as his legs would carry him to the huts, of which nothing now remained but ashes.  With some difficulty Thermouthis located the entrance to the cave by the stone that lay across it.  Making a torch from the few, still smoldering reeds that were left, he scrambled down into the cave as quickly as he could, calling Thisbe by name – for her name was the one word of Greek he knew.  But the sight of her dead body struck him dumb.  A long time he stood there, but eventually he became aware of the hum and murmur of voices floating upwards from the bowels of the cave, for Theagenes and Knemon were still engaged in conversation.  He concluded that these were Thisbe's murderers, but now he was in a quandary: on the one hand he had the hot blood of all brigands and the quick temper of all savages, which, aggravated by his frustrated passion, impelled him to close with the supposed culprits there and then; on the other hand he had no weapon, no sword.  Reluctantly he was constrained to control his impulses: better, he thought, to conceal his hostile intentions for the first encounter, then to wreak vengeance on his foes the moment he could lay his hands on a weapon.  Thus resolved, he presented himself to Theagenes and the others.  But the wild and cruel way he regarded them made all too plain that purpose hidden in his heart.  

– Heliodorus, from The Aethiopica, or, Theagenes and Charikleia (3rd or 4th century AD), translated from Greek by J.R. Morgan (1989) 

Pisceans - II

Eline Mugaas
Untitled
1999
C-print
Nordnorsk Kunstmuseum, Tromsø

Gustaf Magnusson
By the Water
1943
oil on board
Prins Eugens Waldemarsudde, Stockholm

Henrik Sørensen
Bathers, Holmsbu
ca. 1914-15
oil on canvas
Lillehammer Kunstmuseum, Norway

Oskar Zwintscher
Encounter
1915
oil on canvas
Galerie Neue Meister (Albertinum), Dresden

Anders Zorn
My Models
1916
etching
Prins Eugens Waldemarsudde, Stockholm

Karl Hofer
Women by the Sea
1908
oil on canvas
Galerie Neue Meister (Albertinum), Dresden

Ludwig von Hofmann
Landscape with Bathers
ca. 1915-20
oil on canvas
Galerie Neue Meister (Albertinum), Dresden

Johan Axel Gustav Acke
Salt, Wind and Sea
1906
oil on canvas
private collection

Karl Hubbuch
The Swimmer of Cologne
1924-25
lithograph
Kunsthalle Mannheim

David Hockney
Sunbather
1966
acrylic on canvas
Museum Ludwig, Cologne

Edvard Munch
Boys Bathing
ca. 1904-1905
oil on canvas
KODE (Art Museums Complex), Bergen, Norway

Edvard Munch
High Summer
1915
oil on canvas
Nasjonalmuseet, Oslo

Francis Picabia
Four Figures and a Fish
ca. 1927-32
watercolor on paper
Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen

Leo Prochovnik
Neuland - Monatsschrift
(magazine)
1896
lithograph (poster)
Kunstbibliothek, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin

Christer von Rosen
Ready to Swim in the Garage: The Cone of Light
1963
tempera on paper
Moderna Museet, Stockholm

Philip von Schantz
Esox Lucius (Northern Pike)
1983
oil on canvas
Moderna Museet, Stockholm

"How Thisbe came to be in the cave, and who killed her here, we may never know, unless some god reveals the answers to us.  But perhaps we should take a close look at the writing tablet that we found in her bosom.  It probably has something further to tell us." 

They agreed that they should.  Knemon opened the tablet* and began to read.  This is what was written there.

To Knemon, my lord and master, from your enemy and benefactress, Thisbe.  First I have some good news for you: Demainete is dead.  It was I who brought this about, out of love for you.  How it happened I shall tell you face-to-face if you will agree to see me.  Next I bring you the news that I have been on this island for ten days now, the captive of one of the bandits who live here: he boasts that he is their captain's right-hand man.  He is keeping me under lock and key and does not allow me even to put my head outside the door, claiming that he has incarcerated me like this because he loves me, though in my estimation he is afraid that someone might take me away from him.  But by the grace of some god I saw you walk past, my lord, and I recognized you.  I am sending you this tablet secretly, by way of the old woman who shares my dwelling.  She has instructions to deliver it into the hand of the captain's handsome Greek friend.  Deliver me from the clutches of these brigands!  Do not abandon your servant!  Help me, please; for the wrongs I appear to have done I was compelled to do, but the revenge I took on your enemy I took voluntarily.  But if you are too full of anger to heed my prayers, then vent your hatred on me however you please.  My one wish is to be yours, even if it means my death.  Better to die at your hands and be buried like a Greek, than to endure a life worse than death and suffer the torment of a savage's love, which causes me, as an Athenian, more pain than any hatred.

* a writing tablet consisted of two pieces of wood coated with wax and hinged together so that they could be closed to protect the inscribed wax

– Heliodorus, from The Aethiopica, or, Theagenes and Charikleia (3rd or 4th century AD), translated from Greek by J.R. Morgan (1989) 

Pisceans - I

Charles-Joseph Natoire
Triumph of Amphitrite
ca. 1730-40
oil on panel
National Museum, Warsaw

Théodore Géricault
Triumph of Galatea
before 1824
drawing, with added watercolor
Musée Bonnat-Helleu, Bayonne

Gerhard von Kügelgen
Andromeda
1810
oil on panel
Alte Nationalgalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin

Nicolas Colombel after Francesco Albani
Abduction of Europa
ca. 1710
oil on canvas
Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen

Valentin Serov
Abduction of Europa
1910
oil on canvas
State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

William-Adolphe Bouguereau
The Birth of Venus
1879
oil on canvas
Musée d'Orsay, Paris

Willem van Mieris
Diana and Actaeon
1693
watercolor and gouache on vellum
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Peter van Halen
Diana and Callisto
ca. 1670
oil on canvas
Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp

Ernst Josephson
Strömkarlen (Water Spirit)
1884
oil on canvas
Prins Eugens Waldemarsudde, Stockholm

Lucas Cranach the Elder
Nymph of the Spring
ca. 1540
oil on panel
Kunsthalle Bremen

Jean-Pierre Norblin
Bathers in a Park
1785
oil on canvas
National Museum, Warsaw

Monogrammist A.H.
Baptism of Christ
ca. 1500
oil on canvas
Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon

Alessandro Allori
Baptism of Christ
ca. 1570
tempera on panel
Národní Galerie, Prague

Pietro Perugino
Baptism of Christ
ca. 1498-1500
oil on panel
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

François Perrier
River God - The Nile
(Colossal Roman statue, now at the Vatican)
1638
etching
Hamburger Kunsthalle

François Perrier
River God - The Nile
(Colossal Roman statue, now at the Vatican)
1638
etching
Hamburger Kunsthalle

He reeled backwards and stood shivering in dumb amazement.  At this turn of events, Theagenes, however, came to life and felt a new optimism.  He brought Knemon round from his faint and begged him to lead the way to Charikleia as quickly as he could.  Knemon took a moment to collect himself and then had another look at the body.  It really was Thisbe!  Beside her had fallen a sword, which he recognized by its hilt; Thyamis, in the haste of his passion, had left it in the body at the time of the murder.  Protruding from her breast was a writing tablet that was tucked under her arm.  Knemon picked it up and tried to make out what was written on it, but Theagenes was too pressing to let him read it.  "Let us rescue my beloved first," he said, "in case even now some malign power is making fun of us.  There will be plenty of time to read that later."

– Heliodorus, from The Aethiopica, or, Theagenes and Charikleia (3rd or 4th century AD), translated from Greek by J.R. Morgan (1989)