Portal:Speculative fiction/Selected picture
Selected picture
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Selected pictures list
Portal:Speculative fiction/Selected picture/1
Leaving the opera in the year 2000, a ca. 1882 lithograph by Albert Robida, showing a futuristic view of air travel over Paris in the year 2000. (POTD)
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A
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An illustration from a ca. 1916 edition of
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An engraving of action from Act I, Scene 1 from William Shakespeare's The Tempest, in which Prospero (right) has caused the ship carrying his brother Antonio and the King of Naples Alonso to run aground on the island to which he and his daughter Miranda had been exiled. The play is believed to have been written in 1610–11 and is now considered to be one of Shakespeare's greatest works. (POTD)
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Plate I of
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Detail from a Japanese woodblock print (ca. 1741–51) of Zhong Kui (called Shōki in Japanese), a Chinese mythological figure traditionally regarded as a vanquisher of ghosts and demons. His image is often painted on household gates as a guardian spirit, as well as in places of business where high-value goods are involved. According to folklore, Zhong Kui was a man who committed suicide after he was stripped of the title "zhuangyuan" (having achieved top honors in the imperial examinations) by the emperor of China because of his disfigured appearance, after which he became king of ghosts in Hell. The print is entitled "Shōki zu" ("Shōki striding") and measures 69 by 10 cm (27.2 by 3.9 in). (POTD)
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A ca. 1884
Portal:Speculative fiction/Selected picture/8
Ryū sho ten ("Dragon rising toward heaven"), an 1897
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Gran calavera eléctrica ("Grand electric skull", 1900–13) by
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An illustration from the first edition of
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A typical 20th-century aerial rotating house, as drawn by Albert Robida ca.1883. The drawing shows a dwelling structure in the scientific romance style elevated above rooftops and designed to revolve and adjust in various directions. An occupant in the lower right points to an airship with a fish-shaped balloon in the sky, while a woman rides a bucket elevator on the left. Meanwhile, children fly a kite from the balcony as a dog watches from its rooftop doghouse. (POTD)
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This photograph, entitled Dalí Atomicus, explores the idea of suspension, depicting three
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Sir John Tenniel's illustration of the Caterpillar for Lewis Carroll's classic children's book, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The illustration is noted for its ambiguous central figure, which can be viewed as having either a human male's face with pointed nose and protruding lower lip or as the head end of an actual caterpillar, with the right three "true" legs visible. The small symbol in the lower left is composed of Tenniel's initials, which was how he signed most of his work for the book. The partially obscured word in the lower left-center is the last name of Edward Dalziel, the engraver of the piece. (POTD)
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Sadko in the Underwater Kingdom, a painting by
)Portal:Speculative fiction/Selected picture/17
Two
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One of the earliest depictions of the modern Santa Claus by Thomas Nast, which appeared on the cover of the January 3, 1863 issue of Harper's Weekly. At this time, the image of Santa Claus had not yet merged with that of Father Christmas. This version was likely based on the Belsnickel ("Furry Nicholas"), a mythical being who visited naughty children in their sleep. The name originated from the fact that the person appeared to be a huge beast since he was covered from head to toe in fur. This image appeared as a small part of a larger illustration titled "A Christmas Furlough" in which Nast set aside his regular news and political coverage to do a Santa Claus drawing. This Santa was a man dressed up handing out gifts to Union Army soldiers. (POTD)
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A painting depicting
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A scene from
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A
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The fifth of Henry Holiday's original illustrations for "The Hunting of the Snark", a nonsense poem written by Lewis Carroll in 1874. (CPOTD)
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"The Punishment of Loki", by Louis Huard. (CPOTD)
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An artist's impression of a terraformed Mars centered over Valles Marineris. The Tharsis region can be seen on the left side of the globe. (CPOTD)
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Don Quixote and his fanciful reality, a "world of disorderly notions, picked out of his books, crowded into his imagination". (POTD)
Portal:Speculative fiction/Selected picture/27
An engraving of William Shakespeare's comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream, depicting Titania and Bottom, with fairies in attendance. The play portrays the events surrounding the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta, both figures of Greek mythology, and the actions of fairies who inhabit the forest in which most of the play is set. It is one of Shakespeare's most popular works for the stage and is still widely performed today. (POTD)
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A 1900 illustration of the Norse god Thor with the giant Útgarða-Loki. Giving his name as "Skrymir", the giant tricked Thor and his companions in several ways, such as challenging Thor's servant Þjálfi to a race against Thought, challenging Loki in an eating contest with Wildfire, and challenging Thor to a drinking contest where the drinking horn was connected to the ocean. In the end, Útgarða-Loki revealed his trickery and said that he had been truly afraid at their performance and would never again risk coming near the thunder god. Thor's dealings with giants make up most of the myths surrounding him. (POTD)
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An illustration from an 1893 version of
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An illustration by
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An illustration by Kate Greenaway that accompanied Robert Browning's version of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, a legend wherein a piper is hired by the town of Hamelin, Germany, to lead rats away with his magic pipe. The town refuses to pay his wages and he retaliates by leading the children of the town away as well. (POTD)
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"The Man That Pleased None", from
Portal:Speculative fiction/Selected picture/33
In the poem "The Queen of Hearts", the titular queen bakes some tarts, which are then stolen by the Knave of Hearts (shown here). The King of Hearts has the Knave punished, so he brings them back and pledges not to steal again. The poem was published anonymously in 1782, along with three lesser-known stanzas, all about characters based on playing cards. (POTD)
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Illustration for a 1904 adaptation of the
Portal:Speculative fiction/Selected picture/35
An 1880s poster for Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, a novella by Robert Louis Stevenson known for its vivid portrayal of a split personality, wherein within the same person there is both an apparently good and an evil personality, quite distinct from each other. It was a huge success, with over 40,000 copies sold in the first six months after publication. (POTD)
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A scene from "The Canterville Ghost", Oscar Wilde's first published story, which is about an American family that moves into a haunted house in England. However, instead of being frightened of the eponymous ghost, they turn the tables and prank him, such as in this scene, where the twin boys have set up a butter-slide, causing the ghost to slip down the staircase. The story satirises both the unrefined tastes of Americans and the determination of the British to guard their traditions. (POTD)
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Portal:Speculative fiction/Selected picture/38
Seventh of Henry Holiday's original illustrations to "The Hunting of the Snark" by Lewis Carroll.
From Fit the Fifth: The Beaver's Lesson. The Butcher and Beaver hear the song of the Jubjub bird, and this causes the Butcher to be reminded of his childhood, and begin a lengthy lesson to the Beaver. Afterwards, they become friends. As for the strange creatures:
- The Beaver brought paper, portfolio, pens,
- And ink in unfailing supplies:
- While strange creepy creatures came out of their dens,
- And watched them with wondering eyes.
- So engrossed was the Butcher, the heeded them not,
- As he wrote with a pen in each hand,
- And explained all the while in a popular style
- Which the Beaver could well understand.
The rest of the lesson is pretty much complete nonsense.
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"Mrs. Bedonebyasyoudid." Illustration from Charles Kingsley's The Water Babies in charcoal, water, and oil.
Portal:Speculative fiction/Selected picture/40
The
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The
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The Centaurs was an animated film produced by Winsor McCay between 1918 and 1921. There is no record that the film was completed or publicly screened. The film was destroyed by negligent storage that allowed the sole surviving nitrate film print to deteriorate into dust. All that remains are isolated fragments that total approximately 90 seconds.
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Thomas Edison's Frankenstein, 1910.
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The Tenth Doctor (David Tennant) during the filming of one scene for the 2009 Christmas Special, The End of Time.
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Feline Follies, a Felix the Cat 1919 silent animated short by Pat Sullivan.
Portal:Speculative fiction/Selected picture/47
Stained glass window from the synagogue in Enschede, depicting a griffin. Text is a shortened version of "Blessed are those who listen to me; watching daily at my doors; waiting at my doorway." (Proverbs 8:34)
Portal:Speculative fiction/Selected picture/48
Illustration to
- Year after year unto her feet,
- She lying on her couch alone,
- Across the purpled coverlet,
- The maiden's jet-black hair has grown,
- On either side her tranced form
- Forth streaming from a braid of pearl:
- The slumbrous light is rich and warm,
- And moves not on the rounded curl.
- The silk star-broider'd coverlid
- Unto her limbs itself doth mould
- Languidly ever; and, amid
- Her full black ringlets downward roll'd,
- Glows forth each softly-shadow'd arm,
- With bracelets of the diamond bright:
- Her constant beauty doth inform
- Stillness with love, and day with light.
- She sleeps: her breathings are not heard
- In palace chambers far apart.
- The fragrant tresses are not stirr'd
- That lie upon her charmed heart.
- She sleeps: on either hand upswells
- The gold-fringed pillow lightly prest:
- She sleeps, nor dreams, but ever dwells
- A perfect form in perfect rest.
Portal:Speculative fiction/Selected picture/49
Film poster for the 1932 film The Mummy, featuring Boris Karloff.
Portal:Speculative fiction/Selected picture/50
Illustration to
- My good blade carves the casques of men,
- My tough lance thrusteth sure,
- My strength is as the strength of ten,
- Because my heart is pure.
- The shattering trumpet shrilleth high,
- The hard brands shiver on the steel,
- The splinter'd spear-shafts crack and fly,
- The horse and rider reel:
- They reel, they roll in clanging lists,
- And when the tide of combat stands,
- Perfume and flowers fall in showers,
- That lightly rain from ladies' hands.
- How sweet are looks that ladies bend
- On whom their favours fall!
- For them I battle till the end,
- To save from shame and thrall:
- But all my heart is drawn above,
- My knees are bow'd in crypt and shrine:
- I never felt the kiss of love,
- Nor maiden's hand in mine.
- More bounteous aspects on me beam,
- Me mightier transports move and thrill;
- So keep I fair thro' faith and prayer
- A virgin heart in work and will.
- When down the stormy crescent goes,
- A light before me swims,
- Between dark stems the forest glows,
- I hear a noise of hymns:
- Then by some secret shrine I ride;
- I hear a voice but none are there;
- The stalls are void, the doors are wide,
- The tapers burning fair.
- Fair gleams the snowy altar-cloth,
- The silver vessels sparkle clean,
- The shrill bell rings, the censer swings,
- And solemn chaunts resound between.
- Sometime on lonely mountain-meres
- I find a magic bark;
- I leap on board: no helmsman steers:
- I float till all is dark.
- A gentle sound, an awful light!
- Three angels bear the holy Grail:
- With folded feet, in stoles of white,
- On sleeping wings they sail.
- Ah, blessed vision! blood of God!
- My spirit beats her mortal bars,
- As down dark tides the glory slides,
- And star-like mingles with the stars.
- When on my goodly charger borne
- Thro' dreaming towns I go,
- The cock crows ere the Christmas morn,
- The streets are dumb with snow.
- The tempest crackles on the leads,
- And, ringing, springs from brand and mail;
- But o'er the dark a glory spreads,
- And gilds the driving hail.
- I leave the plain, I climb the height;
No branchy thicket shelter yields;
- But blessed forms in whistling storms
- Fly o'er waste fens and windy fields.
- A maiden knight--to me is given
- Such hope, I know not fear;
- I yearn to breathe the airs of heaven
- That often meet me here.
- I muse on joy that will not cease,
- Pure spaces clothed in living beams,
- Pure lilies of eternal peace,
- Whose odours haunt my dreams;
- And, stricken by an angel's hand,
- This mortal armour that I wear,
- This weight and size, this heart and eyes,
- Are touch'd, are turn'd to finest air.
- The clouds are broken in the sky,
- And thro' the mountain-walls
- A rolling organ-harmony
- Swells up, and shakes and falls.
- Then move the trees, the copses nod,
- Wings flutter, voices hover clear:
- "O just and faithful knight of God!
- Ride on! the prize is near."
- So pass I hostel, hall, and grange;
- By bridge and ford, by park and pale,
- All-arm'd I ride, whate'er betide,
- Until I find the holy Grail.
Portal:Speculative fiction/Selected picture/51
Illustration to
- And by the moon the reaper weary,
- Piling sheaves in uplands airy,
- Listening, whispers, " 'Tis the fairy
- Lady of Shalott."
- She knows not what the curse may be,
- And so she weaveth steadily,
- And little other care hath she,
- The Lady of Shalott.
- All in the blue unclouded weather
- Thick-jewell'd shone the saddle-leather,
- The helmet and the helmet-feather
- Burn'd like one burning flame together,
- As he rode down to Camelot.
- Out flew the web and floated wide-
- The mirror crack'd from side to side;
- "The curse is come upon me," cried
- The Lady of Shalott.
- "Who is this? And what is here?"
- And in the lighted palace near
- Died the sound of royal cheer;
- And they crossed themselves for fear,
- All the Knights at Camelot;
- But Lancelot mused a little space
- He said, "She has a lovely face;
- God in his mercy lend her grace,
- The Lady of Shalott."
Portal:Speculative fiction/Selected picture/52
Cover of a 1904 adaptation of
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Illustration by Édouard Manet for a French translation by Stéphane Mallarmé of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven". Part 4 of 4 full page plates.
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Illustration by Édouard Manet for a French translation by Stéphane Mallarmé of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven". Part 2 of 4 full page plates.
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Illustration by Édouard Manet for a French translation by Stéphane Mallarmé of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven". Part 1 of 4 full page plates.
Portal:Speculative fiction/Selected picture/56
Frontispiece to the 1825/1826 edition of Childe Harold's Pilgrimage by Lord Byron, published by W. Dugdale, Russell Court, Drury Lane. The engraving is by I. H. Jones.
Portal:Speculative fiction/Selected picture/57
Fourth of Henry Holiday's original illustrations to "The Hunting of the Snark" by Lewis Carroll.
From Fit the Second: The Bellman's Speech. This shows the Bellman's map, which, being blank, is equally useful everywhere, unlike normal maps:
- "Other maps are such shapes, with their islands and capes!
- But we've got our brave Captain to thank"
- (So the crew would protest) "that he's brought us the best--
- A perfect and absolute blank!"
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