PATH OF THE CYCLE

Arthurian coats of arms from "Works on knighthood and tournaments" collection. Houghton Library, Harvard University.

Sappho was called a lyrist because, as was the custom of the time, she wrote her poems to be performed with the accompaniment of a lyre. Sappho was one of the first poets to write from the first person, describing love and loss as it affected her personally. Her style was sensual and melodic; primarily songs of love, yearning, and reflection.

Illustration by Henry Pitz 1923

St George and the Dragon (detail) by Carlo Crivelli

Cupid, the god of love, is the custodian of the keys to this castle. The knight, who wears a laurel wreath around his helmet indicating victory, must convince Cupid that he is fit to enter. Slung at the side of the knight’s charger are a crown, another laurel wreath, and a sleeping (or dead) dragon.

Cosimo di Giovanni de' Medici (detail) by Bronzino

The Catalan Civil War, also called the Catalonian Civil War or the War against John II, was a civil war in the Principality of Catalonia, then part of the Crown of Aragon, between 1462 and 1472.

The Danish king John (Hans) invaded the autonomous peasant's republic of Dithmarschen in 1500. The attack failed, and the king narrowly escaped the battle.

by Pierre-Henri Révoil

by Felician Myrbach

The Death of Roland at the Roncevaux Pass

by Arthur Rackham

The Castle Ruins in the Snow by Carl Julius von Leypold

This Green Man artwork is an Art Nouveau ceramic newel post from the New Amsterdam Theatre in New York City.