Venus and Adonis

Titian (Tiziano Vecellio)

1550s · Oil on canvas · European Paintings

Tales from Ovid’s Metamorphoses inspired Titian to paint what he called poesie, or poetry in paint. Here, Venus tries to stop her lover from departing for the hunt, fearing—correctly—that he would be killed. The mood of sen-suality, conveyed by the beautiful depiction of Venus, seen from the back, enhances the viewer’s sense of the tragic end to this story, expressed through their exchanged glances and the frightened Cupid. Titian’s workshop made multiple versions of this composition, but this one is of exceptional quality and was painted by Titian himself.

Artist

Titian (Tiziano Vecellio)

Date

1550s

Medium

Oil on canvas

Department

European Paintings

Credit line

The Jules Bache Collection, 1949