Roman/Greek Mythical Painting

By Andrew Jeong

The Birth of Venus

By Sandro Botticelli

• Oil on Canvas during Italian Renaissance• A Roman myth relating to Venus, the goddess of love, which

is equivalent to Aphrodite of Greek myth• The artist wanted to portray divine love through the painting.

By making Venus the central point of image, it conveys the idea of importance. Unlike the that of High Renaissance, this painting of the Italian Renaissance adopted the concept of Humanism and Botticelli implemented human like figure of Venus into this painting. All together, it tells a story of Venus born from divine shell all while she creates serenity, unity, and perfection in her surrounding.

Bibliography

• "Birth of Venus." Artble: The Home of Passionate Art Lovers. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Oct. 2012. <http://www.artble.com/artists/sandro_botticelli/paintings/birth_of_venus>.

• "Botticelli, Sandro." WebMuseum:. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Oct. 2012. <http://

www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/botticelli/ >.

Art Hunt

John HanPeriod B3

Title and Artist

• Title: Orpheus and Eurydice

• Artist: Tiziano Vecellio

The Painting

The Myth

• The Greek tragic story of Orpheus and Eurydice

How it’s retold

• The painting depicts two scenes from the myth. On the left, a serpent, shown as a dragon, bites Eurydice. On the right, the scene where Orpheus makes a mistake of looking back at Eurydice as they exit the inferno of Hades is illustrated.

Citation

Vecellio, Tiziano. Orpheus and Eurydice. 1508. Oil on wood. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York.

Helen of TroyEvelyn de Morgan1898The Illiad

Instead of weapons and battles, De Morgan decides to paint Helena wearing a beautiful pink robe and paint her beautiful face using the artistic elements. This painting illustrates her overwhelming beauty, which relates to how she was very attractive to men.

Morgan, Evelyn De. Helen of Troy. Digital image. Web.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Helen_Of_Troy.jpg>

MedusaCaravaggio1597The Illiad

In Greek mythology, Medusa is depicted as a monster who has a ugly face of a female attached with living venomous snakes. Thus, this painting lucidly illustrates the portrayal of Medusa.

Caravaggio. Medusa. Digital image. Web.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Medusa.jpg>

Oedipus and the Sphinx

Jessica ChoMs. HogsheadWorld Lit A3

October 18, 2012

Painted by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres

Date: 1808

Museum: Louvre Museum, Paris, France

Neoclassicism

http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/jean-auguste-dominique-ingres-oedipus-and-the-sphinx

The Myth

• Oedipus guessed the Sphinx’s riddle and saved the city of Thebes

• Oedipus’ wife turned out to be his mother• Oedipus killed a man who later turned out to

be his father• Oedipus blinded himself as a repentance• The painting depicts Oedipus confidently

solving Sphinx’s riddle.

Jean-Léon Gérôme

Rachel Han

Pygmalion and Galatea

Pygmalion

Galatea

Eros

• This painting is based on the story of Pygmalion and Galatea. Pygmalion was a famous sculptor who fell in love with Galatea, a beautiful female figurine that he had sculpted. Unable to resist his love, Pygmalion prayed to Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love, on the day of her celebration. Deeply moved by his devotion and the beauty of his sculpture, Aphrodite granted his wish and blew life into Galatea, who later on married Pygmalion and lived with him until the end of their days.

• In this painting, the artist depicted the scene in which Galatea slowly becomes alive. Her upper body has become completely human, expressing her admiration and love for her creator, Pygmalion, while her legs are still at its cold, ivory state. On the top right corner, Eros, Aphrodite’s son and messenger of love, shoots his arrow to represent Pygmalion and Galatea’s love and Aphrodite’s approval of their love.

Greek Mythology:Pygmalion and Galatea

• "Greece Myths: Pygmalion and Galatea." Greece Myths: Pygmalion and Galatea. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Oct. 2012. <http://www.greeka.com/greece-myths/pygmalion-galatea.htm>.

• "HarvestHeart – Jean Gerome, Pygmalion and Galatea, Oil On..." HarvestHeart. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Oct. 2012. <http://harvestheart.tumblr.com/post/3210343930>.

Works Cited:

The Triumph of Galatea,Rap

haelBy Jeein Jeon

The Painting

The myth• The beautiful Nereid Galatea falls in love with the peasant

shepherd Acis.• Her consort, Polyphemus (one-eyed giant), throws an

enormous pillar and kills Acis.

How is the myth retold through the painting?

• No main events of the story• The scene of the nymph's apotheosis• Galatea appears surrounded by other sea creatures

whose forms are inspired by Michelangelo• The bright colors and decoration are inspired by ancient

Roman paintings.• At the left, a sturdy Triton (partly man and fish) abducts

a sea nymph and another Triton uses a shell as a trumpet

• Galatea rides a shell-coach drawn by two dolphins• Galatea not only resembles one human but also represents

the ideal beauty

Works Cited

Krén, Emil, and Daniel Marx. "Web Gallery of Art, Image

Collection, Virtual Museum, Searchable Database of

European Fine Arts (1000-1850)." Web Gallery of Art,

Image Collection, Virtual Museum, Searchable

Database of European Fine Arts (1000-1850). N.p.,

n.d. Web. 18 Oct. 2012. <http://www.wga.hu/frames-

e.html?/html/r/raphael/5roma/1/05farne.html>.

Nadya Kim and Lina ChangWorld Lit A1

Art Hunt

The Judgement of Parisby Peter Paul Rubens

• Rubens tells the story of Paris’ judgment of which of the three goddesses (Venus, Juno or Minerva) was the most beautiful.

• Paris chose Venus and awarded her the golden apple

• The jealousy and fury of the goddesses were one of the reasons that led to the Trojan War.

The Myth

• Alterations show that Rubens first painted an earlier moment when Mercury told the goddesses to undress; the final stage shows Paris awarding the apple to Venus, who stands between Minerva and Juno; Mercury stands behind Paris and above is the Fury, Alecto.

• Paris was rescued by shepherds when he was young because he was prophesized that he would ruin the city so he was abandoned (his shepherd’s staff is clearly seen in the painting).

How it’s retold through the painting

Works Cited

• Rubens, Peter Paul. Judgement of Paris. 1632-5. The National Gallery,

Trafalgar Square, London WC2N 5DN. The National Gallery. The National

Gallery. Web. 18 Oct. 2012.

Jane Jun-P3(B)

Psyche Welcomed to the Underworld by Pluto and Proserpine

Psyche Welcomed to the Underworld by Pluto and Proserpine

By Charles-Joseph NatoireCollection of Louvre Museum

– -alludes to the Greek Myth of Eros and Psyche– -This scene shows how Psyche receiving the bottle

with a drop of Proserpine's beauty.

– -After Psyche falls in love with Eros but does not follow what he says, she is offered by Aphrodite to do certain things in order to meet Eros again. As one of the impossible tasks, Aphrodite demanded Psyche to go to the underworld to get Propserpine’s beatuy.

The myth of Eros and psyche

• Natoire, Charles-Joseph. Psyche Welcomed to the Underworld by Pluto and Proserpine. 1734-35. The Louvre, Paris.

Works Cited

Hyojin kim

Birth of Venus

Birth of Venus

Birth of Venus

- Title: “Birth of Venus”- Artist: Sandro Betticelli- Myth: In myth, Venus-Aphrodite was born of sea-foam.

Roman theology presents Venus as the yielding, watery female principle, essential to the generation and balance of life. Her male counterparts in the Roman pantheon, Vulcan and Mars, are active and fiery. Venus absorbs and tempers the male essence, uniting the opposite of male and female in mutual affection. She is essentially assimilative and benign, and embraces several otherwise quite disparate functions.

Birth of venus

• In Botticelli’s “Birth of Venus”, the goddess Venus emerges from the sea upon a shell in accordance with the myth that explains her birth. Her shell is pushed to the shore from the winds produced by the Zephyr wind-gods amid a shower of roses. As the goddess is about to step on the shore, one of the Nymphs reaches out to cover her with a purple cloak.

Work cited

The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli

The painting depicts the scene in which Venus, the goddess of beauty and love, is born as she arises from the foam of the sea water. After Saturn castrated his father Caelus, he threw Caelus’s genital into the sea water. The mixture of Caelus’s blood and sea water created Venus and prompted this miraculous birth.

In the painting, Venus is located in the center, with a nymph reaching her to cover her with a cloak. The Zephyr win pushes her towards the shore. The painting depicts the exact moment in which Venus comes to life, coming out of a shell. The painting serves to emphasize the elegance and beauty of Venus.

Works CitedFinnan, Vincent. “The Birth of Venus.” Italian Renaissance. 2012. Web. 18 Oct. 2012.Reynolds, Joshua. “Venus.” New World Encyclopedia. 2 Apr. 2008. Web. 18 Oct. 2012

JAMIE PARK and Andrew Oh’s ClassworkYEAHHHHHHH

“Aphrodite and Eros

• Title: “Aphrodite and Eros”

• Lucas Cranach Sr.• “The Tale of Eros and

Psyche”• Aphrodite is hiding Eros

from Psyche.• St. Petersburg Museum

Works cited

• “Greek Mythology Paintings.” iGreekmythology.

• 2009. Web. 18 October 2012.

The Choice of Hercules

Art Hunt

• Title: The Choice of Hercules• Artist: Annibale Carracci• The painting: Oil on Canvas• The Myth it relates to: Relates to the myth of

the great hero, Hercules.

• How this myth is retold through the paining: The moment when Hercules had to choose his destiny. Hard journey to success or easy journey to no success. Left woman represents hard destiny and other represents easier destiny.

• Work cited: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Choice_of_Hercules