The Atlas Collection
Travel posters
For places worth remembering. Modern prints inspired by favourite coastlines, towns and landmarks.
New destinations added regularly
Posters from the places you love
Over 2,700 curated artists
Browse all artists
Curated by Artists
Museum Quality Prints
Crafted to Last
Designed for Interiors
Style It Your Way
Popular prints available framed or on canvas
![Green and Maroon - Mark Rothko - Poster [HQ 3c667201b8de]](http://www.solisprints.co.uk/cdn/shop/files/Rothko-Poster-none-fe6a126ae048.jpg?v=1791244683&width=3840)
Timeless Art For Beautifully Designed Homes
Why Choose Us ?
What customers say
Over 5000
Happy Art Lovers
From Our Journal
Medusa: The Gorgon After Death
Perseus approached the sleeping Medusa by watching her reflection in Athena’s polished shield, then cut off her head with Hermes’s sickle. He concealed the severed head in a magic wallet and escaped the searching Gorgons because Hades’s helmet made him invisible. Perseus Beheads Medusa Perseus set out to find the Gorgons, although no one knew where they lived and no one who had seen Medusa had lived to tell the tale. Athena and Hermes came to his aid. Hermes gave him an adamantine sickle. Athena gave him a brightly polished shield and warned him never to look directly at Medusa. He had to watch her reflection in the shield, or her gaze would turn him to stone. Athena first led Perseus to Deicterion in Samos. There he saw images of all three Gorgons and learned to distinguish Medusa from her immortal sisters, Stheno and Euryale. Perseus also needed winged sandals, a magic wallet for the severed head, and the dark helmet of invisibility that belonged to Hades. The Stygian nymphs kept these objects, and Perseus obtained them before he reached the Gorgons. Perseus entered Medusa's lair without meeting her eyes. He watched her reflection in the polished shield and moved towards her while she slept. He raised the sickle and cut off her head. He turned his face away, wrapped the head in the goat-skin attached to the shield, and placed it in the magic wallet. Medusa's sisters then searched for him, but the helmet of invisibility hid him from their sight. Perseus escaped from the lair carrying the Gorgon's head. Source note: Primary text: Apollodorus, The Library. Corpus check: Ultimate Greek Mythology; Greek Mythology. Pegasus and Chrysaor Emerge from Medusa Perseus turned his gaze towards the polished shield and followed Medusa’s reflection. Athena guided his hand. He saw the snakes coiled around her head, writhing and biting one another until blood ran over her forehead. The stench of death weakened him, but he gripped the sickle Hermes had given him and struck. The blade cut through Medusa’s neck, and her head rolled away from her body. Perseus lifted it by the limp snakes and placed it in his wallet. As Medusa’s blood fell, two beings sprang from her dead body. Pegasus, a magnificent white stallion, emerged with a golden mane, golden hooves, and golden wings. Chrysaor also emerged, fully grown and holding a golden falchion. In another telling, the two rose from the ground where Medusa’s blood had fallen. Poseidon had fathered both of them on Medusa before her death. Perseus did not challenge Pegasus or Chrysaor. He left quickly with Medusa’s head. Stheno and Euryale woke and pursued him, but the dark helmet of invisibility hid him from their sight. He escaped and flew southwards. At sunset, he landed near the palace of Atlas. Because Atlas had refused him hospitality, Perseus showed him Medusa’s head, and Atlas changed into a mountain. The next day, Perseus flew east across the Libyan desert while Hermes helped him carry the heavy head. He later dropped the Graeae’s eye and tooth into Lake Triton. Pegasus and Chrysaor Emerge from Medusa. Original MythSource illustration created for this story; not a historical artwork. Source note: Primary text: Apollodorus, The Library. Corpus check: Monsters of Greek Mythology, Volume Two; The Library of Greek Mythology (Oxford World's Classics). Athena Receives Medusa's Head Athena guided Perseus's hand as he turned away from Medusa and watched her reflection in his polished bronze shield. He cut off her head with one stroke of Hermes's adamantine sickle. Pegasos, the winged horse, and Chrysaor, grasping a golden falchion, sprang from her body. Perseus placed the head in his wallet and fled while Stheno and Euryale rose from sleep and tried to pursue him. Hades's helmet hid him from their sight. Perseus flew southward and escaped. He showed the head to Atlas, who was changed into a mountain. Hermes helped him carry its weight across the Libyan desert. Perseus later returned to Seriphos with Andromeda and found Danaé and Dictys sheltering in a temple from Polydectes. He entered the palace while Polydectes feasted with his companions, and announced that he had brought the promised gift. Athena then took Medusa's head and fixed it to her aegis or shield. The Gorgon's face remained a weapon that turned those who looked upon it to stone. One telling said that the aegis was Medusa's skin, which Athena flayed after Perseus had cut off her head. Another said that Athena had stripped the skin from Pallas, a winged, goatish giant, and made the aegis from it. Source note: Primary text: Apollodorus, The Library. Corpus check: War in Greek Mythology; Greek Gods.
Black-Figure Vases: Stories Drawn in Clay
In Archaic Greece, vase painters transformed terracotta vessels into narrative boards. By combining black slip silhouettes with fine incised details, craftsmen recorded complex mythological stories and scenes of daily life directly onto clay surfaces. Crafting Narratives on Archaic Clay Potters in Corinth developed the black-figure technique during the seventh century BC. Athenian craftsmen adopted this method by the end of the century, mastering the process to produce exported ceramic fineware. The artist sketched outlines with charcoal onto the reddish clay surface before painting the figures in silhouette using wet clay slip. To define interior details, the painter scraped through the dark slip with a sharp point or metal graver. This incised line exposed the pale red clay underneath, delineating facial features, muscle structures, and drapery folds against dark silhouettes. Painters frequently applied purplish-red and white pigments over dark silhouettes prior to firing vessels in a kiln. White paint traditionally indicated female flesh, whereas purplish-red marked garments, hair, and armour. These decorated vessels fulfilled clear practical functions in Greek society. Citizens used large mixing bowls named kraters for wine during male drinking parties termed symposia, stored oil in narrow lekythoi, and poured water from three-handled hydriai. The placement of painted pictures responded directly to vessel shapes. Two-handled amphorae typically carried two separate scenes, while handleless dinoi allowed continuous friezes around their round bodies. Early Masters and Multi-Tiered Friezes During the early sixth century BC, Attic artists studied Corinthian models to organise decorated surfaces. The Gorgon Painter decorated a dinos on a stand between 600 BC and 590 BC, dividing the vessel into five distinct horizontal zones. The lower three bands feature repeating rows of animals and floral patterns. The uppermost band depicts a myth where winged Gorgons pursue Perseus across the vessel wall while their decapitated sister Medusa falls to the ground. Anatomy became regularised in this period, with legs and heads drawn in profile, while Gorgons retained broad frontal faces. Between 580 BC and 570 BC, Sophilos painted and signed a dinos now preserved in London. Sophilos added written labels beside his drawn figures, using letters to identify gods and title scenes. While he painted animal rows on lower friezes with conventional repetition, he concentrated his effort on the top frieze showing the wedding of Peleus and Thetis. The divine procession extends around the vessel rim, depicting Peleus standing outside his house offering a kantharos of wine to Iris, Dionysus, Hebe, and Cheiron. White paint applied over black slip clearly marked the bodies of attending goddesses. Greek - Black-figure Amphora - Walters 48224 - Side A glare reduced white bg. CC BY-SA 3.0; source: Wikimedia Commons. Detailed Storytelling on the François Vase Around 570 BC, the painter Kleitias and potter Ergotimos created a large volute krater known as the François vase. Kleitias divided the vessel surface into seven narrow friezes, devoting five bands entirely to mythological narratives. The lip features the hunt of the Calydonian boar, the neck shows chariot races from Patroklos's funeral games, and the shoulder depicts the wedding of Peleus and Thetis. Below these scenes, Kleitias painted pygmies battling cranes alongside animal bands. Inscriptions identify over two hundred individual figures and inanimate objects across the vessel. Kleitias demonstrated narrative precision in depicting Achilles pursuing the Trojan prince Troilos. On one side of the frieze, a youth fills a hydria at a fountain-house while goddesses watch the scene. In the centre, Achilles leaps forward toward Troilos, who rides two galloping horses while his dropped water jar rests beneath the hooves. The pursuit moves toward King Priam sitting near the city gates as Trojan warriors emerge to intervene. On the vessel handle, Kleitias painted a compact rectangular panel showing Ajax carrying the lifeless body of Achilles out of battle, establishing an upright composition. Scale and Space from Drinking Cups to Amphorae By the middle of the sixth century BC, miniaturist painters concentrated on smaller drinking cups called kylikes. Lip cups featured small figures set against bare light clay in the upper lip centre, such as the BMN Painter's rendering of Theseus fighting the Minotaur. In contrast, band cups were painted black except for a thin horizontal band between the handles. On one band cup, an artist depicted Dionysus and Ariadne flanked by alternating satyrs and maenads. The repeating dancing poses balanced the composition across the narrow space. Other craftsmen preferred decorating large surfaces with fewer figures. Between 550 BC and 530 BC, the Amasis Painter decorated a neck amphora using three large figures that occupied the central rectangular panel. He depicted Dionysus holding a kantharos to receive two approaching maenads who hold wild animals and ivy branches. Unusually, the painter omitted white pigment for female skin, leaving the maenads' flesh outlined directly against the natural orange clay. Repeated incised patterns marked the drapery folds and hair locks to balance the spacious layout. Exekias and the Height of Black-Figure Artistry Exekias painted a one-piece amphora between 540 BC and 530 BC that demonstrated precise alignment between painted forms and ceramic shape. Within a single dark panel, he painted the heroes Achilles and Ajax seated opposite one another at a gaming board. Their hunched shoulders echo the curved contours of the amphora body, while their leaning spears align with the handle joins. Exekias incised geometric patterns into their woven cloaks. Written labels record their calls, with Achilles shouting 'four' and Ajax calling 'three'. Exekias also painted the interior tondo of a drinking cup portraying Dionysus sailing on a red ground. The composition illustrates a story where pirates abducted the god, only for vines to wrap around the ship mast and drive the captors into the sea. Exekias painted Dionysus reclining in a boat beneath a central vine bearing seven grape clusters. Seven dolphins swim through the red field surrounding the vessel. As the drinker tilted the cup to finish their wine, the painted ship appeared to float out from the liquid. Ritual Retention and the Red-Figure Transition Around 530 BC, painters working with the potter Andokides introduced the red-figure technique. By covering the background in black slip and leaving figures in reserved terracotta clay, artists could paint interior details using fine brushes instead of incising lines with metal tools. This technique permitted fluid brush strokes and subtle variations in glaze dilution. Red-figure gradually superseded black-figure as the dominant style for fine Athenian ceramics over the following decades. Black-figure remained in continuous use for Panathenaic amphorae throughout the fifth and fourth centuries BC. Athens awarded these distinct narrow-necked vessels filled with sacred olive oil to winners of the quadrennial Panathenaic games. Religious custom required painters to maintain the traditional black-figure style on these official prize jars. Artists painted Athena armed with shield and spear on the front of the vessel, while depicting specific athletic events such as sprinting and javelin throwing on the reverse side.
Kukulkan and the Wooden People
Tepeu and Gucumatz raise land from the still sea, then set mountains, waterways, plants, and animals in their appointed places. When animals cannot speak or praise their makers, the creators seek beings with understanding, first shaping unsuccessful people from clay and wood. The Feathered Serpent Joins the Creation The creators spoke while the world was an empty sky above a still sea. There was no light, sound, land, animal, or plant. Gucumatz, the Great Feathered Serpent, lived in the sea among the blue-green feathers of the quetzal. Tepeu joined him. They decided to form the earth. Tepeu is also called Heart of Sky. Gucumatz is called Heart of Earth. ‘Let there be earth,’ they said. The sea withdrew, and the earth’s platform appeared. Land came forth where there had been only water. Mountains rose, and the earth took the shape of a mountain-plain. Water channels separated from the land and wound among the mountains. The sky was set apart from the earth, which lay among the waters. The creators spoke what they imagined into being. Trees appeared, and vegetation covered the land. They made animals for the forest, coast, and open land, then placed each in a suitable home. Deer went to clearings and riverbanks. Birds were given their own surroundings. The makers ordered the animals to praise them and name them as their creators. The animals could make sounds, but they could not speak as the gods wished. They could not offer the required praise or recognition. The creators therefore placed them in the wild, where they would be hunted. They then planned to make beings able to understand and praise them. Their first attempt used clay, but the form fell apart when it became wet. They tried again with wood. These beings stayed whole, walked, talked, and reproduced, but they were too inflexible for the creators’ purpose. Source note: Primary text: the ancient sources. Corpus check: Mayan Mythology; Creation Myths of the World: Parts I-II. The Destruction of the Wooden People The creators made the earth, mountains, trees, sky, and animals through thought and speech. When the animals could not speak their creators’ names or praise them, the creators gave them bodies and homes but removed their rule over the earth. They then shaped a human form from clay. It fell apart when it became wet, so they tried again with wood. The wooden people remained whole. They walked, talked, and multiplied. Yet they were incomplete. They had no souls, and they could not remember or honour the beings who had made them. They also mistreated their dogs by beating and starving them. The cooking pots and grinding stones suffered their use as well. The wooden people therefore failed to become the responsive beings the creators intended. Gucumatz and the other creator gods allowed their destruction. A great flood covered the world. In one account, the Heart of Sky sent it, and rain of resin fell from above. The wooden people sought shelter, but the punishment followed them. Jaguars tore open their bodies and crushed their bones. Vultures pecked out their eyes. Camazotz, the vampire bat, tore off their heads. Other accounts name Sudden Bloodletter, Crunching Jaguar, Tearing Jaguar, and Gouger of Faces among their attackers. The wooden people’s dogs turned against them and crushed their faces in revenge for the abuse they had suffered. The cooking pots threw heated rocks at them. The grinding stones crushed them into pieces. The flood and the attackers destroyed the woodcarvings, leaving them unable to continue as the intended human beings. The creators punished them because they could not recognise, praise, or properly thank their makers. The Destruction of the Wooden People. Original MythSource illustration created for this story; not a historical artwork. Source note: Primary text: the ancient sources. Corpus check: Mayan Mythology; Popol vuh : the Mayan book of the dawn of life. The Creation of the Mud People Gucumatz, also called Gugumatz or Heart of Earth, and Tepew caused land to appear where there had been only sea. They shaped the earth’s platform, then raised hills, valleys, and mountains. They made trees and animals, giving the birds wings and nests in the trees, while jaguars roamed the forest floor as predators. The animals received dominion over the earth, but this arrangement failed when the Makers demanded praise. The animals could not speak the names of their creators. They squawked, chattered, and howled. Gucumatz and Tepew therefore decided to make beings with greater awareness of creation and its makers. They wished to be recognised and praised. The animals kept their bodies and homes, but lost their right to govern the earth. The Makers told them that their flesh would be consumed and eaten. They then formed people from mud or clay. The figures had human shapes, but water made them melt. Their bodies could not hold together. They also lacked proper speech and could not name or worship their creators. The Makers destroyed them and tried again with wood. The wooden people walked, talked, multiplied, and had daughters and sons. Yet some accounts say they had no souls and acted like animals. They had nothing in their hearts and did not understand their makers. The gods therefore sent destruction, and most of the wooden people drowned. Those who survived became monkeys, which resembled people but had no human speech, soul, or understanding. Later attempts used corn for the human body, with corn meal forming the arms and legs. Source note: Primary text: the ancient sources. Corpus check: Mayan Mythology.