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| Palma il Vecchio Portrait of a woman ca. 1520 oil on panel Museo Poldi Pezzoli, Milan |
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| Palma il Vecchio Portrait of a Poet ca. 1516 oil on panel National Gallery, London |
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| Caravaggio St John the Baptist in the Wilderness ca. 1604-05 oil on canvas Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City |
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| David des Granges The Saltonstall Family ca. 1636 oil on canvas Tate Britain |
And so this poor, little, innocent mouse
Stepped fearlessly into the murderer's house.
On the fatal bench she took her seat,
Modestly showing her little feet,
To try the shoe – you seldom find
Such innocence and grace combined.
When lo! on a sudden this monster fierce
With murderous claws her neck did pierce
And bit off that poor little innocent head.
"Ah! ha! little creature, you're now quite dead!
The scarlet red slippers for you I will save,
And place them carefully over your grave,
Until the last trumpet sends forth its call
For you, little mouse, as well as for all,
And when, like the rest, you rise from the dead,
You then shall put on the shoes, scarlet red."
– from The White Mouse, printed in The Young Elocutionist, compiled and arranged by Misses Settle and Estabrook (San Francisco: A.L. Bancroft, 1882)
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| John Greenhill Self-portrait ca. 1665 oil on canvas Dulwich Picture Gallery, London |
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| circle of Johann Carl Loth Music Lesson ca. 1675-1700 oil on canvas Wilanów Palace Museum, Warsaw |
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| Karel Dujardin Woman with Cows on a Road before 1678 oil on panel Dulwich Picture Gallery, London |
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| Giovanni Antonio Pellegrini Alexander contemplating the corpse of the dead Darius 1708 oil on canvas Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf |
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| Nicolas de Largillière Portrait of the actress Marie-Anne de Châteauneuf, called Mademoiselle Duclos, in the role of Ariadne ca. 1712 oil on canvas Musée Condé, Chantilly |
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| Joshua Reynolds Portrait of Stephen Croft, Junior 1760 oil on canvas Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney |
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| Antoine de Favray The Mirabita Sisters ca. 1754-64 oil on canvas Museum of Fine Arts, Houston |
Alicia wore a scarlet gown,
When the Sword went out to sea,
But Ursula's was russet brown:
For the mist we could not see
The scarlet roofs of the good town,
When the Sword went out to sea.
* * *
O, russet brown and scarlet bright,
When the Sword went out to sea,
My sisters wore; I wore but white,
Red, brown, and white, are three;
Three damozels, each had a knight,
When the Sword went out to sea.
– from The Sailing of the Sword by William Morris, first published in The Defence of Guenevere, and other poems (1858)
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| Arthur Devis Portrait of James Duff ca. 1800-1810 oil on canvas Museum of Fine Arts, Houston |
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| John Singer Sargent The Birthday Party 1887 oil on canvas Minneapolis Institute of Art |
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| Ford Madox Brown The Irish Girl 1860 oil on panel Yale Center for British Art |
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| Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot Italian Woman ca. 1826-28 oil on canvas Bridgestone Museum of Art, Tokyo |