Venus and Adonis (mid-1630s)

Rubens, Peter Paul (1577-1640)

Venus and Adonis
probably mid-1630s
Oil on canvas, 197.5 x 242.9 cm
Metropolitan Museum of ArtNew York

Rubens took the subject of this painting from the Roman poet Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Accidently pricked by one of Cupid’s arrows, Venus fell in love with the handsome hunter Adonis. With cavalier indifference to the goddess’s adoration and her warnings of danger, Adonis hunted a wild boar and was gored to death. Rubens shows their leave-taking—a popular subject also famously depicted by Titian in another picture now at The Met. By adapting subjects explored by earlier artists, Rubens asserted his own status as their worthy successor. (MET)

See also:

• Ovid (43 BC-17/18 AD): The Metamorphoses (English)