Painting of the Month

Titian, 'The Death of Actaeon', about 1565-76
Special Feature: Hunting and Pursuit in Ancient Greece

Many of the paintings in the National Gallery represent ancient Greek myths. One of the richest sources for the stories was the 'Metamorphoses'. Written by the Roman poet Ovid (43 BC - 17 AD), the 'Metamorphoses' is a long verse which retells Greek and Roman legends. Written as a sequence, they are unified through the theme of metamorphosis or transformation.

The poem, originally written in Latin, was translated and much admired in the Middle Ages; it subsequently inspired artists as diverse as the Pollaiuolo brothers, Titian and Poussin.

A recurring theme of the 'Metamorphoses' is that of hunting and pursuit. Click on the links to discover some of these stories >>

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