My Kid Could Paint That

Art in Metamorphoses
Centuries of Ovid's Influence
Curated by Natalie Dockhorn

Ricci, Jupiter and Semele, 1695

"As she was ignorant 
Of the game she was playing.
She laughed 
To have won the simple trick
That would wipe her out of existence

So easily. 'I want to see you,' she said,
'Exactly as Juno sees you when she opens
Her arms and body to you. As if i were Juno,
Come to me naked-in your devine form.'
Too late"
-Ovid's Metamorphoses

One of Jupiter's many lovers, Semele, is with child, and a jealous Juno goes after the girl. Posing as a nurse, Juno begins to talk with Semele about the father of her child and Semele starts to question the true identity of the father of her child. When Jupiter comes to visit Semele the next day, she asks a request for him, to which he says he will grant whatever she wishes. Semele asks Jupiter to come to her in his godlike form and show her his true self. Reluctant to do so and sorry that he ever promised her anything, Jupiter unveils his bright supernatural self. Upon seeing this image of immortality, Semele cannot bare the brightness and is immediately incinerated. Desperate to save his child, Jupiter takes the baby from Semele's womb and sews the baby onto his side. Later, Bacchus is born from Jupiter's side, and that is why the god of wine is said to have been 'twice born.'

Right before the crazy immolation, Ricci paints Jupiter and Semele as Jupiter reveals himself to her. Clearly he has a skill for curvaceous bodies, Ricci does a nice job of making the scene intimate between the two bodies, but also hides the most important character of the baby by having Semele's body facing away. Also her foot underneath her leg sticks out to me because it seems quite small and like it wouldn't fit the rest of her body. Beyond that I think this painting is a fair representation of the myth and Semele's face turning away and lifting up the blue draping lets the viewer see that her wish will not turn out in her favor.

Art in Metamorphoses
Centuries of Ovid's Influence
Curated by Natalie Dockhorn

Baldung Grien, Pyramus and Thisbe, 1530

Art in Metamorphoses
Centuries of Ovid's Influence
Curated by Natalie Dockhorn

Waterhouse, Echo and Narcissus, 1903

"The moment Echo saw Narcissus
She was in love. She followed him
Like a starving wolf
Following a stag too strong to be takled.
And like a cat in the winter at a fire
She could not edge close enough
To what singed her, and would burn her.
She almost burst 
With longing to call out to him in somehow
Let him know what she felt.
But she had to wait
For some other to speak
So she could snitch their last words
With whatever sense they might lend her."
-Ovid's Metamorphoses

Caravaggio, Narcissus, 1599

Narcissus, considered the boy next door who girls and men alike cannot control their attraction for, would rather be out hunting then indulging in the attention of his fans. A nymph cursed by Juno is forced to only speak the last words of the sentences she hears. The nymph's name is Echo, and when Echo falls for Narcissus, she waits patiently for someone else's words so that she may tell him her feelings. The story goes that Narcissus does not feel the same for Echo and the nymph proceeds to beg the gods to punish the man for not loving her back. This prayer is received by Nemesis, the god of revenge. For Echo's revenge, Nemesis finds Narcissus after a long days hunt and punishes him by having him fall in love with is refection in the stream.

Narcissus has been painted through the years looking into his refection and withering away with self absorption. Earlier works, such as this Caravaggio painted in 1599, shows  pieces new techniques and perspective, which this particular myth allowed. Waterhouse painted Echo in the scene as well and also puts Narcissus laying all the way down to the stream. This positioning and the other character adds to Narcissus' self-obsession to not even notice his almost lover. Both paintings show a different type of loneliness in them. The loneliness of Echo as she watches her love in Waterhouse's, and the complete darkness of being still and alone in Caravaggio's demonstrate the transformation of the story over the years.

Art in Metamorphoses
Centuries of Ovid's Influence
Curated by Natalie Dockhorn

Rubens, Fall of Phaeton, 1605

"'You God of the Gods,
If my annihilation 
Has been decided, why drag it out?
Where are your thunderbolts
To finish the whole thing quickly
If I am to end in fire
Let it be your fire, Oh God,
That would redeem it a little.
I can hardly speak.'"
-Ovid's Metamorphoses

Determined to find his father, and prove that his father is, in fact, Apollo, Phaeton goes to see his absent dad and asks for a favor. Apollo, being a show-off like most Gods, tells his son that he will give his whatever he wishes. Phaeton then asks to drive his chariot and light the sky. Upon this request, Apollo explains the difficulty of the task, his clear concern, and is generally not supportive of the idea. Phaeton, being ignorant and a smart-ass, tells his new-found father, that if they are related then this task should be a breeze.

Setting off, Phaeton proceeds to light the whole earth on fire, destroying everything the in its path. The horses go mad, and Phaeton is out of control. The Earth tells Zeus the above quote and pleads for him to end her suffering by ending Phaeton. Zeus eventually has no choice and throws a thunderbolt into the son of Apollo.

Ruben's painting of this scene is cluttered and confusing, but I enjoy that because I can only image this myth being exactly that. Parents making wrong choices, kids being stupid, and the big man having to think on his feet to end it all...and all of that happening so quickly. I can only think that Ruben's used all of this fast action to paint Phaeton falling from the chariot. Looking at this piece, I don't know where to start. I understand that the bolt has been thrown by the light in the sky, but the horses and and people are everywhere, moving in terror and hoping not to get burned. I really enjoy the darkness at the bottom of the painting, I think it perfectly fits the falling of Phaeton into the darkness he created.

Art in Metamorphoses
Centuries of Ovid's Influence
Curated by Natalie Dockhorn

Reni, Nessus and Deianira, 1621

Art in Metamorphoses 
Centuries of Ovid's Influence
Curated by Natalie Dockhorn

Titian, Venus and Adonis, 1554

"And this miraculous baby of his sister,
Sired by his grandpa, just not born of a brush
Barley a boy, in the blink of an eye is a man."
-Ovid's Metamorphoses

Adonis, the child of Myrrha who bedded her father and then transformed into a tree, was born from this tree with the help of the goddess of childbirth, Lucina. Venus immediately falls for the child and takes Adonis under her protection. Venus puts Adonis under Proserpina's care, but she too falls for the child. As this conflict of interest arises, Jupiter enters the feud and settles the goddesses with an agreement. The agreement stated that Adonis would spend part of the year with Venus and part with Proserpina.

In Metamorphoses, Ovid explains how Venus was pierced with one of cupid's arrows when Adonis was birthed from the tree. Titian's painting of Adonis struggling to leave Venus illustrates the lust Venus feels for the boy. Also, painted in the background by the tree we see Cupid sleeping and his arrows hanging in the tree. Adonis, probably off to his other maiden, Proserpina, looks at Venus without much attraction, but rushing to leave her. Venus, literally lovestruck by Cupid's arrow begs for her love to stay. The phenomenon is strange to me because of the back story. I mean Adonis' mother, who is also his sister, and who's grandpa is also his father, came from a tree to be sort of mothered by Venus, who then also falls in love with him. That sort of incest is hard to come back from, I can only imagine the struggles.