mythologypaintings

[mythologypaintings]

Circe and Her Lovers in a Landscape

Artist: Dosso Dossi (Italian, c. 1489–1542)

Date: c. 1525

Medium: Oil on canvas

Collection: National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, United States

Description

The painting shows the legendary enchantress Circe surrounded by her lovers who are all turned into animals. Circe may not be a major figure in mythology but she sure is a girl boss of her island and unlucky is the man whose ship gets stranded on her shores.

[mythologypaintings]

Calliope

Artist: Joseph Fagnani (American, 1819–1873)

Date: 1869

Medium: Oil on canvas

Collection: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, NY, United States

Description

Joseph Fagnani (1819–1873), an Italian-born immigrant to America, painted this scene of the ancient Greek goddess, Calliope. She was the leading member of the Muses—patron goddesses of arts, sciences and creativity in the ancient Greco-Roman world. Hesiod (c. 8th century BCE) is thought to have been the first to list the canonical names of the Muses, and he positioned Calliope as the leader, or most prestigious member, of the group.

Ovid stated:

“Calliope. She, with her flowing hair in ivy wreath, rose up and strummed a few plangent chords to test her lyre strings, then firmly plucked them to launch at once on the following lay.” (Ovid, Metamorphoses, 5.335-340).

Such is the goddess that Joseph Fagnani brought to life with his painting. Calliope’s harmony between words and music are represented in the artwork. In one hand, she holds her written text, while in the other, she keeps her musical instrument at the ready.

[mythologypaintings]

Venus, Cupid and Ceres

Artist: Cornelis Cornelisz van Haarlem (Dutch, 1562–1638)

Date: 1604

Medium: Oil on canvas

Collection: Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States

Description

A newly discovered work by Cornelis Cornelisz. van Haarlem, this colorful painting interprets the ancient witticism, “Without food and drink, love grows cold.” Venus, Roman goddess of love, is joined by Cupid and Ceres, goddess of grain; Bacchus, god of wine, is present symbolically through the grapes. The supple, translucent flesh demonstrates the interest in naturalism that blossomed in Northern Europe in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, which led artists to work increasingly “from life,” that is, from observation of models.

[mythologypaintings]

Iris Carrying the Water of the River Styx to Olympus for the Gods to Swear By

Artist: Guy Head (English, 1753 - 1800)

Date: ca. 1793

Medium: Oil on canvas

Collection: Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri, United States

[mythologypaintings]

Venus Healing Aeneas

Artist: Merry Joseph Blondel (French, 1781-1853)

Date: ca. 1820

Medium: Oil on canvas

Collection: Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States

Venus Healing Aeneas

In this study for a larger painting of a scene from Virgil’s Aeneid, Merry Joseph Blondel depicted the epic poem’s protagonist, Aeneas, wounded and having dragged himself away from the battlefield. Hidden in a divine mist, the goddess Venus—Aeneas’s mother—and the river god Numicus come to his rescue. Numicus holds the hero as Venus administers a healing balm. The following lines from A. S. Kline’s translation of the poem describe the scene:

This Venus brought, her face veiled in dark mist, this, with its hidden curative powers, she steeped in river water, poured into a glittering basin, and sprinkled there healing ambrosial juice and fragrant panacea.

[mythologypaintings]

Neptune Resigning the Empire of the Sea to Britannia

Artist: William Dyce (Scottish,, 1806-1864)

Date: 1846-1847

Medium: Watercolour and gouache on paper

Collection: Aberdeen Archives, Gallery and Museums, Aberdeen, Scotland

Description

The fresco for which this study was painted is situated on the stairwell at Osborne House, Isle of Wight. Osborne House was built in an Italianate style and was considered the Royal marine residence. A fresco with a maritime subject, celebrating Britain's success at sea, was therefore a fitting subject.

The scene illustrates the imminent coronation of Britannia by Mercury, who bridges the gap between land and sea -Neptune and Britannia. Britannia stands triumphant, her majesty reinforced by the figures surrounding her, their attributes signifying British industry. The female figure holds a distaff, symbolic of the textile industry and the male figure to the extreme right of the composition stands next to an anvil, representing the manufacture of iron and steel. The figure with his back to the spectator carries Mercury's caduceus, a symbol of peace, eloquence and reason, again reference to Britannia's virtues.

[mythologypaintings]

Venus and Cupid

Artist: Elisabetta Sirani (Italian, 1638-1665)

Date: 1664

Medium: Oil on canvas

Collection: Private Collection

[mythologypaintings]

Bacchus on a Throne − Nymphs Offering Bacchus Wine and Fruit

Artist: Caesar van Everdingen (Dutch, 1616/1617–1678)

Date: ca. 1616/1617-1678

Medium: Oil on canvas

Collection: Museum Kunstpalast, Dusseldorf, Germany

[mythologypaintings]

The Toilette of Venus

Artist: Benedetto Gennari (Italian, 1633-1715)

Date: ca. 1674-1684

Medium: Oil on canvas

Collection: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA, United States

[mythologypaintings]

Urvashi

Artist: Ravi Parma Press

Date: 1890

Collection: Raja Ravi Heritage Foundation, Bengaluru, India

Description

Another love story bordering on a tragic, abrupt end. The beautiful celestial apsara Urvashi is sent down from the heavens and king Puruvanas falls in love with her. She Agrees to his proposal of marriage on the condition that he never neglects her pet goats and secondly, he will never present himself naked before her. Urvashi tells him that if he disobeys the two conditions at any time, she would go away.

Puruvanas remains rooted in love and stays true, causing dismay to the Devas, who want Urvashi back in their abode. Some of them come down stealthily at night and steal the goats; hearing the animals' cry Urvashi chides Puruvanas for letting go unattended. Rushing out to rescue them, the king is caught unaware as a flash of lighting reveals his naked self. With the second condition also broken, albeit unwittingly, Urvashi flies away to the heavens even as a dispirited Peruvanas desesperately tries to stop her departure.

[mythologypaintings]

Diana and Her Nymphs in a Clearing

Artist: Godefridus Schalcken (Dutch, 1643-1706)

Date: ca. 1685–1692

Medium: Oil on canvas

Collection: The Leiden Collection, New York City, NY, United States

[mythologypaintings]

Venus

Artist: Cornelis Cornelisz van Haarlem (Dutch, 1562–1638)

Date: 1620

Medium: Oil on canvas

Collection: The Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Houston, TX, United States

[mythologypaintings]

Aurora and Tithonus

Artist: Sebastiano Ricci (Italian, 1659-1734)

Date: c. 1705

Medium: Oil on canvas

Collection: Royal Collection Trust, London, United Kingdom

Description

Aurora, goddess of the dawn, fell in love with Tithonus, son of Laomedon and brother of Priam. She gained immortality for him but not youthfulness; hence he is shown here lying on the ground as an old man. Aurora floats above him, half naked on clouds, wearing a crown of roses and holding a chaplet of flowers in her upraised right hand. The three winged putti surrounding her hold a flaring torch, a basket of flowers and an urn; symbolizing the dawn's light, its generative power and the dew.

[mythologypaintings]

Apollo Pursuing Daphne (after Flemish School)

Artist: British (English) School

Date: ca. 1674-1675

Medium: Oil on canvas

Collection: National Trust Collections, London, United Kingdom

Description

Classical portrait showing Apollo, on the left of Daphne, whose legs are turning into roots, and whose hands are sprouting twigs.

[mythologypaintings]

Narcissus

Artist: Godfried Schalcken (Dutch, 1643 - 1706)

Date: c. 1680-1685

Medium: Oil on canvas

Collection: Harvard Art Museum, Cambridge, MA, United States

Description

In Greek mythology, Narcissus was a young man of exceptional beauty who fell in love with his own reflection. This self-love, or narcissism, was a result of a prophetic warning about his lifespan and his refusal to love others, particularly the nymph Echo. He eventually pined away for his unattainable love, and the flower known as the narcissus (daffodil) sprouted from where he died.

[mythologypaintings]

The Metamorphosis of the Dead Adonis

Artist: Marcantonio Franceschini (Italian, 1648–1729)

Date: After 1692

Medium: Oil on canvas

Collection: Liechtenstein. The Princely Collections, Vaduz–Vienna

Description

The painting of “The Metamorphosis of the Dead Adonis” completes the six-part sequence illustrating Ovid’s narrative. In order to perpetuate the memory of Adonis, Venus sprinkled his body with nectar and transformed his blood into flowers that return every year with the spring but are fragile and soon torn to pieces by the wind, a symbol of love’s transience. Following Ovid’s description, Franceschini has rendered this seldom depicted act of transformation in the shape of a truly literal metamorphosis, even venturing to convey the coalescence of the dead body with the earth. The companions of Venus who are gazing in amazement at the miracle and delighting in the blood-coloured anemones are figures from the artist’s imagination and do not appear in Ovid’s account.

[mythologypaintings]

Thetis Bring the Armor to Achilles

Artist: Benjamin West (American, active England, 1738-1820)

Date: 1804

Medium: Oil on canvas

Collection: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA, United States

Description

This painting shows a pivotal scene from the storyline of the hero, Achilles, featured in Homer’s ancient epic poem, The Iliad, set during the mythical or legendary Trojan War. West’s painting takes a snapshot of a specific event that occurred well into Homer’s war-torn plot.