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.
Titian
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.
Dogs guarding the underworld, attributes of Diana, discovering Tyrian purple, gathering scraps under the Last Supper, and telling part of the story.
The sign of (human) death. Lots of skulls means mass death or apocalypse. Held by Hamlet, featured in vanitas paintings, and with Mary Magdalene.
