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| Simon Vouet Study for Allegory of Intellect before 1649 drawing Musée du Louvre |
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| François Valentin Allegorical Depiction of the Meeting between Emperor Joseph II and Louis XVI ca. 1777 drawing Musée du Louvre |
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| Charles-François Poerson Allegory of the Union of the Academies of Paris and Rome ca. 1682 drawing Musée du Louvre |
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| Giuseppe Passeri Personification of the Church before 1714 drawing Musée du Louvre |
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| Pierre Mignard Allegory of Truth ca. 1692 drawing (study for ceiling painting, Château de Versailles) Musée du Louvre |
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| attributed to Eustache Le Sueur Allegory with Virgo (astrological figure) before 1655 drawing Musée du Louvre |
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| Charles Le Brun Allegorical Figure, Winged and Crowned ca. 1650 drawing (study for tapestry) Musée du Louvre |
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| Giovanni Lanfranco Allegorical Setting for the Arms of the Veralli Family ca. 1630 drawing (study for engraving) Musée du Louvre |
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| Paolo Farinati Allegory in Honor of Giacomo Foscarini (the artist's patron) 1570 drawing Musée du Louvre |
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| Charles-Antoine Coypel Allegorical Figure of Lyric Poetry before 1752 drawing Musée du Louvre |
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| Simone Cantarini (il Pesarese) Medici Arms with Allegorical Figures 1637 drawing Musée du Louvre |
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| Giulio Campi Allegory of History (woman seated in a study) before 1572 drawing Musée du Louvre |
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| Benedetto Caliari after Paolo Veronese Earthly Fortune before 1598 drawing Musée du Louvre |
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| Agnolo Bronzino Allegory of Marriage with Crowned Venus and the Muses ca. 1565 drawing (study for banner) Musée du Louvre |
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| Alessandro Algardi Allegory of Rome before 1654 drawing Musée du Louvre |
The Dream Play
The spirits have dispersed, the woods
faded to grey from midnight blue
leaving a powdery residue,
night music fainter, frivolous gods
withdrawing, cries of yin and yang,
discords of the bionic young;
cobweb and insects, hares and deer,
wild strawberries and eglantine,
dawn silence of the biosphere,
amid the branches a torn wing
wild strawberries and eglantine,
dawn silence of the biosphere,
amid the branches a torn wing
– what is this enchanted place?
Not the strict groves of academe
but an old thicket of lost time
too cool for school, recovered space
where the brain yields to nose and ear,
folk remedy and herbal cure,
old narratives of heart and hand,
Not the strict groves of academe
but an old thicket of lost time
too cool for school, recovered space
where the brain yields to nose and ear,
folk remedy and herbal cure,
old narratives of heart and hand,
and a dazed donkey, starry eyed,
with pearls and honeysuckle crowned,
beside her naked nibs is laid.
Wild viruses, Elysian fields –
our own planet lit by the fire
of molten substance, constant flux,
hot ice and acrobatic sex,
the electric moth-touch of desire
and a new vision, a new regime
where the white blaze of physics yields
to yellow moonlight, dance and dream
induced by what mind-altering drug
or rough-cast magic realism;
with pearls and honeysuckle crowned,
beside her naked nibs is laid.
Wild viruses, Elysian fields –
our own planet lit by the fire
of molten substance, constant flux,
hot ice and acrobatic sex,
the electric moth-touch of desire
and a new vision, a new regime
where the white blaze of physics yields
to yellow moonlight, dance and dream
induced by what mind-altering drug
or rough-cast magic realism;
till morning bright with ant and bug
shines in a mist of glistening gism,
shifting identities, mutant forms,
angels evolved from snails and worms.
shifting identities, mutant forms,
angels evolved from snails and worms.
– Derek Mahon (2008)