THE OLD MASTERS

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Italy, France & Britain · 15th–19th c.

Myth by the Masters

Venus born from the sea-foam, nymphs hauling a satyr to the water, a Pre-Raphaelite sleep like flame — the ancient myths rendered by Botticelli, Bouguereau, and Leighton at the height of their powers.

See the same myths, made for you → Painted Myths

The Birth of Venus — The Birth of Venus
The goddess arrives, blown ashore on a shell.

Nymphs and Satyr — Nymphs and Satyr
Four nymphs drag a reluctant satyr to the water.

Flaming June — Flaming June
The most beautiful sleep in Victorian art.

Hylas and the Nymphs — Hylas and the Nymphs
Seven faces in the water, and a boy who never comes back.

Echo and Narcissus — Echo and Narcissus
One of them cannot speak first; the other cannot look away.

The Lament for Icarus — The Lament for Icarus
The wings still on him, and the sun that did it overhead.

Bacchus and Ariadne — Bacchus and Ariadne
A god leaping from his chariot, mid-air, in love.

The Birth of Venus — The Birth of Venus
Botticelli’s subject, redone with academic perfection.

Pygmalion and Galatea — Pygmalion and Galatea
Ivory turning to flesh, from the knees up.

A Mermaid — A Mermaid
A siren combing her hair at the edge of the sea.

Proserpine — Proserpine
The queen of the underworld, and the fruit she cannot undo.

The Golden Stairs — The Golden Stairs
Eighteen maidens descending — to what, no one can say.

The Garden of the Hesperides — The Garden of the Hesperides
The nymphs, the golden apples, and the coiled dragon.

The Abduction of Psyche — The Abduction of Psyche
Love carrying the soul up into the light.

The Roses of Heliogabalus — The Roses of Heliogabalus
Guests smothered under a cascade of rose petals.

The Soul of the Rose — The Soul of the Rose
A woman leaning into a rose, eyes closed, breathing it in.

Ulysses and the Sirens — Ulysses and the Sirens
The sirens board the ship — bound to the mast, he cannot resist.