Explore ancient tales and timeless symbolism in "Triptych of Legends." From Hercules' mythical strength to Arnold Böcklin's portrayal of mortality and Matthias Stom's illuminating devotion, these posters weave together stories of fury, death, and light. Join me on a visual journey through ancient myths and symbolic art.
FURY
Hercules was a hero in ancient Greek mythology who was supernaturally strong. There are a number of stories about his accomplishments, including the tale of Hercules' lion. The Nemean lion in Greek mythology was not a lion that belonged to Hercules, but rather a lion killed by Hercules as part of a series of challenges. In Greek mythology, the lion that Hercules killed was particularly powerful and even cunning. He was not an ordinary lion, but a magical creature like those found in most Greek myths.
DEATH
Self-Portrait with Death Playing the Fiddle is a painted self-portrait executed in 1872 by the Swiss symbolist artist Arnold Böcklin. He first exhibited at the Kunstverein München in the same year, establishing his reputation in Munich's artistic community. It is now in the Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin. Death and mortality is a repeating theme in several of Böcklin's works, including Plague, two versions of War, and five versions of Isle of the Dead.
LIGHT
Saint Jerome is an oil-on-canvas painting by Dutch artist Matthias Stom. It was completed c. 1635 and is now in the Musee des Beaux-Arts de Nantes, France, which bought it in 1810.[1] Painted in a tenebrist style, it depicts Saint Jerome at a table in a darkened space. Before him, there is a Bible, a rosary, a crucifix, and a skull. Jerome gazes in the direction of light which falls from the upper left.
