Fainting in classical art.
Publisher Summary Fainting (syncope) is a temporary loss of consciousness and posture. Fainting is far commoner than epilepsy, but in art, epileptic seizures are more commonly depicted than fainting. Syncope typically happens in particular situations such as hot crowded environments, including restaurants or aeroplanes, in the doctor's surgery, or in the bathroom at night; specific triggers include prolonged standing, emotional trauma, and pain. Emotional turmoil, particularly grief, usually causes the syncope shown in art; the common causes of syncope in real life, such as prolonged standing and being in hot environments, are rarely shown. Moreover, women in art are much more likely to faint than men, and typically are young, beautiful, and reacting to grief; in real life, the sex ratio only slightly favors women. When men are shown to faint in art, it is often through serious, even life-threatening causes such as severe blood loss or terminal illness. Simple faints in art, particularly in women, often has overtones of a psychogenic component (‘‘swooning’’). Thus, the fainters are often painted with pink skin, eyes closed, and held upright, seemingly without coming to harm.
The Death of General Wolfe
'This painting, which depicts General Wolfe dying at the Battle of Quebec in 1759, is Barry's only canvas treating a modern subject in the rhetoric of history painting. Two Louisbourg Grenadiers support Wolfe, while to the left stand a grieving naval officer and a midshipman. Behind them can be seen sailors pulling cannons up the cliff forming the north bank of the St Lawrence River with a glimpse of the masts of the anchored fleet beyond. At the lower left, daringly cropped by the frame, are the bodies of two of the vanquished - a French officer and his Indian ally. At the right Lt Browne points to the troops advancing across the Plains of Abraham toward the upper town of Quebec as he brings news of the British victory to the expiring general. In choosing this subject Barry was following in the footsteps of Benjamin West, who had exhibited a similar painting at the Royal Academy in 1771.'(Pressly, 60)
The Last Days of Socrates
'Consider just this, and give your minds to this alone: whether or not what I say is just'. Plato's account of Socrates' trial and death (399 BC) is a significant moment in Classical literature and the life of Classical Athens. In these four dialogues, Plato develops the Socratic belief in responsibility for one's self and shows Socrates living and dying under his philosophy. In "Euthyphro", Socrates debates goodness outside the courthouse; "Apology" sees him in court, rebutting all charges of impiety; in "Crito", he refuses an entreaty to escape from prison; and in "Phaedo", Socrates faces his impending death with calmness and skillful discussion of immortality. Christopher Rowe's introduction to his powerful new translation examines the book's themes of identity and confrontation, and explores how its content is less historical fact than a promotion of Plato's Socratic philosophy.