The Timeline of Art History   The Metropolitan Museum of Art
World MapsTimelines / RegionsThematic EssaysWorks of ArtIndex  
Venus and Adonis
Titian (Tiziano Vecellio) (Italian, Venetian, born ca. 1488, died 1576)
Oil on canvas; 42 x 52 1/2 in. (106.7 x 133.4 cm)
The Jules Bache Collection, 1949 (49.7.16)

Ovid, in his Metamorphoses, relates the story of the goddess Venus vainly trying to restrain her lover, the mortal Adonis, from departing for the hunt. The mood of playful sensuality conceals the tragic irony that Adonis is destined to be killed during the hunt by a wild boar. Titian painted two versions of the composition—one in 1554 for Philip II of Spain (now in the Prado, Madrid), and the other shortly before 1570 for the Farnese family (lost). The present picture is a version of the second composition, and since cleaning (1976) can be seen to have been painted in great part by Titian.

Open full-size image




    • Print
    Close
    Venus and Adonis
    Titian (Tiziano Vecellio) (Italian, Venetian, born ca. 1488, died 1576)
    Oil on canvas; 42 x 52 1/2 in. (106.7 x 133.4 cm)
    The Jules Bache Collection, 1949 (49.7.16)