![Album 28 Animals in Art, Rhinoceros woodcut by Albrecht Durer, 1515, woodcut. Woodcut of a rhinocesos. The fine detailing of its skin makes it appear to be wearing a coat of armour, animals in art](https://sp-ao.shortpixel.ai/client/to_auto,q_glossy,ret_img,w_300,h_236/https://livingpaintings.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Album-28-Animals-in-Art-Rhinoceros-by-Albrecht-Durer-300x236.jpg)
![Album 1 The first collection of paintings from the National Gallery, Arnolfini Marriage by Jan van Eyck, 1434, oil on oak. Portrait of a wealthy couple holding hands in their bedchamber. The man on the left wears a long black gown and large brimmed top hat the lady on the right wears a fine green gown and frilled white veil. A small dog stands by her feet.](https://sp-ao.shortpixel.ai/client/to_auto,q_glossy,ret_img,w_300,h_230/https://livingpaintings.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Album-1-The-First-Collection-of-Paintings-from-The-National-Gallery-Arnolfini-Marriage-300x230.jpg)
Suitable for: Adults
Sponsored by: The D'Oyly Carte Charitable Trust
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In this collection we have three atmospheric works of art which exercise our imagination. A castle, the sea, and two seated figures, one a man and the other a mermaid. With accompanying descriptions of the huge size of the castle and its entrancing seascape, of the rocks and coves around the mermaid, and the gates of hell which we are told the thinking man is contemplating, we have ingredients for many good stories
He took his inspiration from Dante's poem, The Inferno, and the gates were to be the Gates of Hell. The Thinker, one of the first figures made for the project, was to sit in the centre of the lintel above the gates, contemplating the souls below him who were guilty of sins of the flesh. Because he was to be seen from below, there are some things about The Thinker that would be different had he been conceived to be viewed as he is now, at normal height. There is little detail in the hair (it wouldn't really be seen from below) his shoulders are huge and his arms are extra-long, therefore they are not lost in the foreshortening caused by the unusual viewpoint. Unlike later casts, this example of The Thinker has a really dark surface or patination almost black, with occasional flashes of brown and green.
The Enchanted Castle, Claude Le Lorrain, 1664
The Thinker, Auguste Rodin, 1880
A Mermaid, John William Waterhouse, 1901
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