Claude Lorrain, 'Ascanius Shooting the Stag of Sylvia', 1682

Claude's seemingly idyllic, archaic landscapes are made to attract the eye, and lure the viewer into the world of the antique past. From the sixteenth century onwards, a taste for the antique pervaded art across genre and space. The landscape paintings that Claude seemingly mass produced during his lifetime are no exception, occupying the genre of history painting with the addition of figures, mythological and classical subject matter. This was Claude's last landscape, depicting a Virgilian subject with over-elongated figures on the left, buried within the foliage of this stage-like composition. Scholars are uncertain as to whether the piece is indeed finished, but it is inscribed with the date and subject matter, which implies completion.

Looking closer however, this is not simply an idyllic landscape as many of Claude's paintings appear to be on the surface. The classical temple with its fluted Corinthian columns is falling into ruin, crumbling out of the picture frame, implying the extension of the landscape beyond what the viewer takes in here. There is a hint of nostalgia, a longing for the classical past that so many artists evoked during this period. But there is also distance - the classical past can never be recreated in all its magnificence and beauty. Beyond the collapsing temple, the trees bending inwards seem equally broken, sagging as if tired of standing tall for so many years. They are painted with a light and delicate touch, adding to their ephemeral, weakening nature. But they also serve to draw the eye towards the sky, thick with threatening clouds, unusually dark in tonal qualities for Claude's landscapes. A storm is brewing, as the dreamy lighting of Claude's past landscapes disappear behind the mountain looming in the distance.

Claude has used this landscape to evoke the story from Virgil. By inscribing the name of the painting, he wants the viewer to make the connection between literature and art. From Virgil's Aeneid, a stag is kept as a pet by the sons of Tyrrhus and their sister Sylvia, able to roam the woods safely. However here an elongated figure can be seen raising their bow and shooting the stag, which looks back in sudden alarm. The scene actually prefigures the war brought to Latium and the prolonged struggle for the future site of Rome. Instead of being a peaceful landscape, there is a somber moment of silence that surrounds the painting as the figure knocks an arrow to his bow and prepares to fire at the sacred animal. This is not just about the skill of Claude as a landscape painter, but also his ability to infuse and weave meaning into that recognisable style.

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Nicola Pisano, 'Adoration of the Magi', Pisa Baptistery Pulpit Panel

In this complex, lively, exciting pulpit panel the eye looks up towards the monumentality of the Virgin, who commands this scene. She is massive and powerful, the largest figure with thick swathes of drapery delineating her forcefully protruding knees out into the viewer's space. Seated but still retaining dominance, she defines the classicising style of Nicola Pisano, witnessed throughout the panels of his pulpit in Pisa. Many writers have described the style - Eloise Angiola for instance, refers to the 'sophisticated understanding of classical prototypes to create heroic human forms' in Nicola's pulpit. Certainly in Pisa the prominent debris from the classical past remained visible and Nicola easily had access to various ancient sarcophagi for direct emulation here. The Virgin's features with her serene expression and curled hair beneath the mantle are in fact quite androgenous. She quickly assumes the position of a monumental Roman Emperor or Senator commanding

Marianne von Werekin, 'Sunrise', 1920

An endless line of men that tug the rope of a small boat soon disappear into murky, burning red waters beyond. Colour is fantastical, mystical and otherworldly, producing an atmosphere far from reality. This is the Symbolist work of Marianne von Werefkin, part of the German Expressionists that worked in Munich from the 1910s. A movement so often dominated by the male names of the time – Kandinsky especially – Werefkin was a vital participant, expanding the range of art produced and displayed, complementing her work with art theory and written sources, as well as creating her own Salon upon her arrival in Munich. It is easy to get lost in biography with a piece such as this. Wasted, human potential seems to be at the heart of this work, signalled by the endless line of men pushing forward towards the edge of the picture plane. There is a sense of struggle and a universality to the suffering through the portrayal of faceless men in similar blue tones. Looking at the date produced of 19

Mark Rothko, 'Light Red over Black', 1957

My eye is not drawn to the painting itself but the title of the painting, 'Light Red Over Black'. We would automatically think that the black is on top of a red background, but Rothko has flipped this around, subverting the title just like he subverting the meaning of what it was to be an artist and what Art actually was. During this time, art was going through rapid changes, with abstract expressionism coming into full force (Rothko, Pollock). But Rothko showed that all this change was for the good, even if for him, it was short lived. The colour red in this painting is searing and the black struggles to fully cover this velvety border, especially at the bottom of the canvas. Unlike the black squares which have a hazy quality to their edges, the red is clear and impregnable. It is hard to figure out what this represents - the Tate has suggested a window perhaps, but if it is a window then what are we looking out into? Perhaps it is night, or perhaps the viewer is catching a

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