Venus and Adonis is a painting by the Italian late Renaissance artist Titian

Titian

Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio (c. 1488/1490 – 27 August 1576 better known as Titian was an Italian painter, the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near...

, executed in Venice around 1553. While the painting, which is now in Madrid's Museo del Prado

Museo del Prado

The Museo del Prado is the main Spanish national art museum, located in central Madrid. It features one of the world's finest collections of European art, from the 12th century to the early 19th century, based on the former Spanish Royal Collection, and unquestionably the best single collection of...

, is one of a number of versions of the same subject by Titian, it stands out as a particularly important commission, being intended for King Philip II of Spain

Philip II of Spain

Philip II was King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and, while married to Mary I, King of England and Ireland. He was lord of the Seventeen Provinces from 1556 until 1581, holding various titles for the individual territories such as duke or count....

. It was part of a series of mythological paintings called "poesie" ("poems").

Venus and Adonis was designed to be viewed alongside Danaë

Danaë (Titian series)

The Danaë series comprises at least five oil-on-canvas paintings by the Venetian master Titian, completed between 1553 and 1556. The works are based on the mythological princess Danaë. According to Ovid she was isolated in a bronze dungeon following a prophecy that her firstborn would eventually...

, a painting from the same series with a related composition, and both works are currently in the same room.

Overview

The painting's subject is taken from Ovid

Ovid

Publius Ovidius Naso , known as Ovid in the English-speaking world, was a Roman poet who is best known as the author of the three major collections of erotic poetry: Heroides, Amores, and Ars Amatoria...

, though with modifications (Adonis leaves Venus, and not vice versa). It portrays a young Adonis

Adonis

Adonis , in Greek mythology, the god of beauty and desire, is a figure with Northwest Semitic antecedents, where he is a central figure in various mystery religions. The Greek , Adōnis is a variation of the Semitic word Adonai, "lord", which is also one of the names used to refer to God in the Old...

, at dawn, with his dogs, leaving Venus

Venus (mythology)

Venus is a Roman goddess principally associated with love, beauty, sex,sexual seduction and fertility, who played a key role in many Roman religious festivals and myths...

, who desperately tries to keep him with her. The scene symbolizes the force of the hunt call, in turn a metaphor of life and of worldly affairs, which is stronger than that of love (embodied by Eros

Eros

Eros , in Greek mythology, was the Greek god of love. His Roman counterpart was Cupid . Some myths make him a primordial god, while in other myths, he is the son of Aphrodite....

, sleeping under trees on the left). In contrast to the later version in Rome

Venus and Adonis (Titian, Rome)

Venus and Adonis is a painting by the Italian late Renaissance artist Titian, executed around 1560. It is currently housed in the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica in Rome. It is one of the numerous version of the same subject....

, the background features a shining sun emerging from the clouds in an only partially overcast sky.