But the people who actually read the books would. I lack an interest in most classic literature, and don’t recognize most of those images; that’s not because those images aren’t iconic of those works.
I suppose I was looking for (but did not make it clear in my OP) scenes that instantly identified a work. Hamlet and Yorick’s skull, Gulliver being tied by the Lilliputians. Tarzan in a loincloth could be from any of the 24 ERB novels.
But… it’s no big deal. I’m enjoying the thread as it is. My only real quibble, and I wonder if I’m alone in this, is that a lot of unmemorable stuff is being thrown in.
But a thread has a life of its own…
Sir Rhosis
Just reread my own OP. I did say “characters/scenes,” so my quibbling is in error.
Sorry.
Sir Rhosis
Fountainhead I presume?
The fellowship of the Ring could also be the ring itself; a burning eye at the top of a tower (even before the movie), a depiction of all the members of the fellowship
An old man with a long white beard and a pointed cap smiling enigmatically at a boy pulling a sword from a stone.
A clown smiling evilly at a child from a gutter drain in the street.
A pig watching a spider build a web.
A girl witching a rabbit wearing a waistcoat go down a hole.
A mother figure surrounded by four young girls of various ages, dressed in early 1900’s style, one girl playing a piano, the rest sewing or reading.
A boy and a huge black horse standing on the shore of a deserted island.
A young girl standing next to a noble-looking lion, a stone table in the background.
A young thin boy holding a golden ticket.
A young boy in a green cap, flying with a tiny fairy.
Yes.
Maybe that was distinctly unmemorable, sorry.
Maybe I can atone for my error with:
A prince with a glass slipper at the foot of a disheveled young woman.
or
A small, ugly man spinning straw into gold while a young woman looks on.
or
A young boy and girl coming out of a dense forest and approaching a house made of gingerbread.
Do those count?
For those of you having trouble with some of the “obvious” examples given in this thread,Ithink it’s interesting to note that in viewing a lot of art from the ancient world we are in exactly this position: A character/scene from mythology which was instantly identifiable to folks alive at the time, but which today seems obscure.
I was in Rome a few years ago touring the Domus Aurea. Like many ancient houses this one was filled with wall paintings, and in one room there was a ceiling painting showing a single boy standing with a sword and shield in the middle of a group of women looking at the floor (I managed to find this image on-line here. Being as well-read in the classics as I am, I was able to identify the scene immediately before the tour guide did, something that impressed the young lady I was with; any guesses?
To return to the OP, it seems to me the phenomenon is quite common; Hagiographic art has depended on prop symbology for centuries (it’s why St. Peter is always depicted holding keys, while St. Joseph always carried a carpenter’s square).