#winged figure

Winged Figure (1913) by Frederick Andrew Bosley (American, 1881 – 1942), oil on canvas, 36 x 35 inches, Vose Galleries of Boston

Collection: The Columbia Museum of Art, Columbia, South Carolina, United States

Collection: National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh, Scotland

In Greek mythology Icarus follows a son of the craftsman Daedalus, who is imprisoned in Crete. To escape, Daedalus builds wings of feathers and wax for both of them, instructing Icarus not to fly too close to the sun. Ignoring this advice, Icarus flies too high, the wax melts, and he plunges to his death in the sea.

© Hetaera Esmeralda

Collection: The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, United States

The Battle of Poltava was the largest battle of the Northern War between Russian forces under Peter the Great and the Swedish army of Charles XII. It took place on June 27 (July 8), 1709, six miles from Poltava and ended in the complete rout of the Swedes, marking a decisive turning point in the war in Russia's favor. In the battle, Peter employed a system of redoubts - circular fortifications - that inflicted heavy losses on the enemy.

Vedder based this painting on one of his illustrations for an 1884 edition of Edward FitzGerald’s translation of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, a poem about life’s mysteries. A critic described the picture’s narrative as follows: “On a sculptured sarcophagus, in which lies buried the Past, sits a handsome brown youth... To him comes the woman in fine figure, with a mass of auburn hair, whose back is alone visible... At the right, Dan Cupid looks on, approving.”