Images Dated 30th September 2005

'The Triumph of Bacchus' or 'The Drunkards', 17th Century. Artist: Diego Velazquez

'The Triumph of Bacchus' or 'The Drunkards', 17th Century. Velazquez, one of the few Spanish painters to depict mythological scenes, was often accused of treating the feats and tales of the classical gods with little respect, and even mockery. Actually, however, guided by his magnificent realism he simply brought the gods down to the mortal world. The best and most realistic way to present the triumph of the god of wine- Bacchus for the Romans and Dionysius for the Greeks- was to show him among a group of everyday drunkards. From the collection of the Prado Museum, Madrid, Spain

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'The Lamentation', c1479. Artist: Hugo van der Goes

'The Lamentation', c1479. Right hand panel of a diptych of 'The Fall of Man and The Redemption'. Mary, supported gently by John the Evangelist, Christ's favourite pupil, bends reverently over the lifeless body of her son. Joseph of Arimathaea is frozen in sorrowful thought. Mary Magdalene, to the left, wrings her hands in agony. In the background are the holy women, one of whom wipes away her tears while the other kisses a nail removed from Christ's wounds as if it were some precious relic. From the collection at the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria

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'Atalanta and the Golden Apples', c1619. Artist: Hendrick van Balen

'Atalanta and the Golden Apples', c1619. Three golden apples were featured in Greek Mythology, in which a hunter named Atalanta raced against a suitor named Hippomenes who used the golden apples to distract her so that he sould win the race

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