Told by an oracle she shouldn’t marry, she challenges any man to a running race to win her hand in marriage. When Hippomenes succeeds, things go wrong for the couple.
myth
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.
Pygmalion carves an ivory statue of the perfect woman, and prays to Venus for a bride in its likeness. When he showers the statue with his kisses, it turns into the woman he wanted.
Apollo’s discus strikes Hyacinthus in the face. As he dies from that wound, his spilt blood is turned into the hyacinth flower in his memory.
Allegories using classical deities, by Tintoretto and Rubens. Accounts of how the Sabine women brought peace to Rome, and peace treaties of Charlemagne and Barbarossa.
Stories of the origin of the Italian pine and cypress trees, and a far more dubious account of Jupiter’s abduction that’s found in an advert for beer.
Associated with the fire of the underworld, painted into life by Jupiter, attracted by Psyche, hunted on expeditions, in vanitas paintings, or just for their beauty.
Newly wed Eurydice is bitten by a snake and dies. Orpheus rescues her from the Underworld, but on their way back he looks back to check on her. All in magnificent paintings.
The first transformed into a Lotus Tree for picking lotus flowers; the second dissolved in her own tears to become a spring; the third changing gender in time for their wedding.
He finally achieved success in 1890, and even became a member of the State Parliament. Here’s his curious mix of landscapes and mythology.
