Pan pipes, in paintings by Mikhail Vrubel, Poussin, JW Waterhouse, Franz von Stuck, Titian, and others.
Titian
First Perseus turns Atlas to stone for his failure to offer him hospitality. He then flies on to rescue the beautiful Andromeda, who’s going to be the next meal for a sea-monster.
A small selection of favourites from its huge and eclectic collection, from Duccio in about 1310 to Joseph Wright of Derby and a gem from Thomas Jones.
The grandson of the founder of Thebes happens into Diana’s sacred wood when out hunting, and sees the goddess naked. She changes him into a stag, with fatal consequences.
Left as a cliffhanger ending to Book 2, Jupiter assumes the form of a white bull, and lures Europa to sit astride his back before whisking her away across the sea.
Readily an obsession, as with Titian, de la Tour, Murillo and others, she’s a penitent, while legends take her to France and even Finland.
Ariadne’s Corona Borealis, a difficult reading from Tintoretto, celestial spheres, constellations of summer, and signs of the zodiac.
Jupiter rapes an Arcadian nymph and follower of Diana, who is then cast out, turned into a bear by Juno, and almost killed by her son.
How Perseus comes to the aid of Andromeda as she’s left chained to a rock, awaiting her fate as the next meal of Cetus the sea-monster.
The original Biblical account of the martyrdom of John the Baptist says that Herod’s wife Herodias ordered it in revenge, as seen in these paintings.