When the nymph Salmacis falls in passionate love with the son of Hermes and Aphrodite, he resists, and they are joined together in single body.
Poussin
The earliest known story in the Western canon to end with the suicide of frustrated lovers, it was the precursor to Romeo and Juliet, and extensively depicted.
Linked stories of Tiresias, the trans-gender soothsayer, Narcissus who fell in love with himself, and Echo who could only repeat what others said.
Young Phaëthon challenges the god of the sun, Phoebus, to prove he is his father, and takes his chariot on a ride to disaster and death.
Cupid gets revenge on Apollo by making him fall in love with Daphne, and she refusing to co-operate. The result is her being transformed into the laurel.
The Roman poet whose poetic account of myths found a place in almost every workshop or studio in Europe between 1500-1850.
Saying it with flowers from Botticelli’s Primavera with over 130 species of flower to Hans Memling’s innovative floral still life.
The Corydon Shepherd, those attending the Nativity, the Good Shepherd, Poussin’s flocks, Millet’s social realism, and Pissarro’s epitaphs.
Relative size can express relative importance, rather than giving a sense of depth. Although ancient tradition, it still appears in more modern paintings.
Jacob’s Ladder, the Crucifixion, scaling the walls of Charlemagne’s Paris, picking fruit, or just crossing a dry stone wall.
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