-1987-oil-on-canvas-Kunsthalle-zu-Kiel.jpg) |
| Marlene Dumas The Teacher (Sub-B) 1987 oil on canvas Kunsthalle zu Kiel |
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| attributed to Benedetto Bordone Triumphal Procession (from the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili of Francesco Colonna published by Aldus Manutius in Venice) 1499 woodcut Hamburger Kunsthalle |
-17th-century-oil-on-canvas-(after-Rubens)-Mus%C3%A9e-Granet-Aix-en-Provence.jpg) |
| Anonymous Flemish Artist after Peter Paul Rubens Banquet of Achelous (chiefest of the River Gods) 17th century oil on canvas Musée Granet, Aix-en-Provence |
-and-Abraham-Govaerts-(landscape)-Feast-of-the-Gods-c1620-25-oil-on-panel-National-Museum-Warsaw.jpg) |
| Frans Francken the Younger (figures) and Abraham Govaerts (landscape) Feast of the Gods ca. 1620-25 oil on panel National Museum, Warsaw |
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| Frans Floris Gathering of Marine Deities ca. 1550 oil on panel Musée d'Art et d'Archéologie du Périgord |
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| Ulf Sjöstedt Twilight Picnic 1967 gelatin silver print Moderna Museet, Stockholm |
-Mus%C3%A9e-de-la-R%C3%A9volution-Fran%C3%A7aise-Vizille.jpg) |
| Charles Ronot The Last Montagnards 1882 oil on canvas Musée de la Révolution Française, Vizille |
-Kupferstichkabinett-Staatliche-Museen-zu-Berlin.jpg) |
| Anonymous Bolognese Artist Aristotle delivering a Lecture ca. 1350-1400 tempera on vellum (manuscript leaf) Kupferstichkabinett, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin |
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| Johan Conraad Braakensiek Job Seekers outside Employment Office 1939 oil on canvas Amsterdam Museum |
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| Hans Baldung Virgin and Child with St Anne adored by the Family of the Margrave of Baden ca. 1510 oil on canvas Staatliche Kunsthalle, Karlsruhe |
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| Walter Crane Masque for Four Seasons 1905 oil on canvas Hessisches Landesmuseum, Darmstadt |
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| Mabel Dwight Book Auction 1932 lithograph Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, Texas |
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| Paul-Emmanuel Legrand Devant Le Rêve 1897 oil on canvas Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nantes |
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| Ernest Meissonier The Portrait of the Sergeant 1874 oil on canvas Hamburger Kunsthalle |
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| Peter Esdaile Macho Club 1982 watercolor on paper Nordnorsk Kunstmuseum, Tromsø |
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| James Ensor The Intrigue 1890 oil on canvas Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp |
[Enter Aegisthus alone.]
Aegisthus: I have come after being called here by a messenger. I learn that some foreigners have come bearing word of news that is far from welcome, namely the death of Orestes. This would be yet another burden for this house to bear and would make its wounds drip blood again when it is still gashed and festering from the murder that happened before. What is it all about? Should I regard it as the living truth, or are these just the frightened words of women that leap high in the air and die having come to nothing? What can you tell me about this that will make the matter clear to my mind?
Chorus: We have heard the story, but you should go inside where the visitors are and inquire from them. The value of a messenger's word is nothing compared to inquiring directly, man from man.
Aegisthus: I want to see the messenger and question him as well as to whether he was himself present in the vicinity when the man died, or whether his story is based on an insubstantial rumour and amounts to nothing. He will certainly not deceive a mind that has its eyes open. [He goes into the palace.]
– Aeschylus, from The Libation-Bearers (458 BC), translated by Alan H. Sommerstein (2008)