Herbert James Draper: the myths depicted by a Gentleman.

My little son adores the Greek myths.
I think these ancient stories do wake something primordial in the heart of the listeners, independently from their age.
Love, hatred, jealousy, anger or joy. All so easy to understand, so raw, straight forward, often cruel. And yet there is one artist who was able to bring such a civilized and polished touch to the narration of the myths that you almost feel yourself attending a high society British salon when looking at his paintings.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Herbert James Draper and his gods and heroes of the past!

By the way, I just love the sketches by Draper that I discovered today while preparing this post. The shy witnesses of the painter's preparation to the "big" work, they are little pearls of art all by themselves.