The lover of Venus is gored in the groin by a wild boar, and dies in pools of blood to be transformed into red anemone flowers.
Franceschini
A dark tale of incest, transformation, and obstetrics in the arboretum, leading to the precious resin myrrh, and the birth of Adonis from a tree.
Myths of the strange births of Venus, Bacchus, Helen and Adonis, the Nativity, and Ford Madox Brown’s son.
The goddess Diana, Selene, the Virgin and Child, or is it just the moon in the sky of a pastoral landscape? Paintings from Bosch to van Gogh.
Transformations of Lycian peasants into frogs, Pygmalion’s statute into Galatea, the pregnant Myrrha, silkworm moths, and autumn.
A virgin goddess who is sometimes the major goddess of childbirth, or the great mother of nature. A huntress and goddess of the Moon.
We give presents at Christmas after the 3 kings. So what is myrrh, and what are its origins in paintings? A grim story of incest, deceit and metamorphosis.
Venus had been terrified of Adonis going hunting, and cautioned him about going near savage beasts. But he wasn’t to be put off. Superb paintings by Veronese, Titian, Rubens, and others.
A dark tale of a wicked nurse, incest, transformation, the origin of the precious resin myrrh, and obstetrics in the arboretum. And a possible very early Titian.
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