The Scottish School of Classical Art

This painting focuses upon the struggle between good and evil for the soul of a young woman. Looking out at the viewer, she is shown in the upper center of the composition, immediately below an angel and directly above Satan. At the upper right Saint Michael—holding scales for weighing the goodness of souls—admits the blessed to Heaven. Below, the Damned struggle to avoid the fiery pits of Hell and the demons that will torment them for eternity. At the time Tassaert painted this work, France was undergoing considerable political upheaval. In 1848, the country was wracked by a civil war between royalist and republican forces. Tassaert himself believed strongly in the Republic, and probably intended the young woman—caught between the sensual, worldly temptations of royalist excesses and the noble, pure ideals of the Republic—to personify the country of France

Heaven and Hell (c. 1850). By Octave Tassaert (French, 1800-1874). Oil on canvas, 121 cm x 90.5 cm.

📍Cleveland Museum of Art

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Fortune’s Favourite. By Lawrence Alma-Tadema (English, 1836-1912). Oil on canvas, 53.7 x 36.8 cm.

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On The Balcony (1911). By John William Godward (English, 1861–1922). Oil on canvas, 81 cm x 41 cm.

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In myth, Psyche, a young mortal woman of exceptional beauty, drives the powerful goddess of love, Venus, into a jealous rage, and she commands her son Cupid to make Psyche fall eternally in love with a monster. Cupid approaches Psyche in her sleep and is so overcome by her beauty that he accidentally scratches himself with his golden arrow, falling deeply in love with the human girl. Venus devises a complex series of trials in response, intending to destroy the couple. Cabanel’s scene illustrates a pivotal moment of the final task, when Venus demands that Psyche travel to the Underworld. Not knowing how to get there, she climbs a tower with the intent to throw herself off of it and enter the world of the dead, but the tower speaks to her and reveals the route. The young mortal woman prevails, but upon returning to the land of the living she considers the potential power of the contents of the box, her moment of ponderance captured in Cabanel’s painting. Overcome by curiosity and hoping to acquire even greater beauty, she opens the box and falls into a deep, unmoving slumber. Cupid finds her and removes the cursed sleep and replaces it in the box, then lifts her into the heavens where the two are united in a marriage blessed by Jupiter. Psyche is ultimately transformed into a goddess.

Psyché (1881). By Alexandre Cabanel (French, 1823-1889). Oil on canvas, 102.2 x 73.3 cm.

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Charmeuse De Serpents (1882). By Theodoros Ralli (Greek, 1852-1909). Oil on canvas, 65.5 cm x 92.5 cm.

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Unconscious of Danger (1865). By Seymour Joseph Guy (American, 1824-1910). Oil on canvas, 50.8 cm x 40.6 cm.

📍Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University

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Lady Godiva was a popular subiect for Victorian
painters. In this work John Collier depicts her as a
young, shy, sensitive woman. She is sitting astride
her horse, unlike most depictions of Godiva, where
she rides side saddle.

Lady Godiva (1898). By John Collier (English, 1850 – 1934). Oil on canvas, 142.2 x 183 cm.

📍Herbert Art Gallery and Museum

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Seated N**e (1884). By William Bouguereau (French, 1825-1905). Oil on canvas, 116.5 cm x 89.8 cm.

📍Clark Art Institute

A Favourite Custom (1909). By Lawrence Alma-Tadema (English, 1836-1912). Oil on canvas, 45.1 cm x 66 cm.

📍Tate Britain

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