After three brief tales of strange happenings in early Rome, Ovid gives an account of the bringing of the god Aesculapius to the city, to end an epidemic.
Ricci
The ultimately disastrous wedding feast ends with its guests killing one another in a series of pitched battles, after one guest tried to abduct the bride.
Even when you’re the King of Kings, being depicted in art is not easy. There’s one masterpiece by Rembrandt which is perhaps appropriate to the ruler of the greatest empire of its time.
Definitely a wedding to remember: how Perseus and Andromeda didn’t have a photographer but a sculptor to preserve their memories.
Who or what exactly is Cupid? How did a mischievous and rather obese infant come to represent love?
Not an easy story to paint, Ovid’s clear account has been largely ignored. Because it is now too absurd to show?
Some stories sound plausible, but are problematic when you try to paint or photograph them. Here’s a good example, with attempted solutions by Reni, Rubens, Moreau, and others.
An unusual classical god in very peculiar circumstances: what took the goddess of love to the doctor?
Several have had a go at telling this story – Titian, Kauffman, Ricci, Delacroix, and Denis. Do their paintings work, though?
The Eclectic Light Company 