Painting of the Month

Love Story: The Story of Bacchus and Ariadne

Titian, 'Bacchus and Ariadne', 1520-3. London, The National Gallery.

Titian was asked by the Duke of Ferrara, Alfonso d'Este, to paint the mythological story of Bacchus and Ariadne. He used texts by the classical authors Catullus and Ovid as his source and cleverly managed to show three different parts of the complex story in one painting.

Read the story...

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1. Theseus
2. Ariadne
3. Bacchus
4. Revellers
5. Stars