The Frames Within

Sorry if everyone else has already figured this out, but I just did and think it is really amazing! The painting above is Titian's Rape of Europa. Look at it closely. Then, look at the background of the painting below, Velazquez' Las Hilanderas (The Spinners). (You may need to click on the picture to open it in a new window to make it big enough to be really obvious.) On the tapestry, you can see Titian's Rape of Europa. Now, look at the two women directly in front of the tapestry. The one on the left is wearing a helmet. Remind you of anyone? Athena, right? So, that makes the woman on her right Arachne. Athena (or Minerva, if you like) is about to turn Arachne into a spider. That Velazquez guy really knew his Ovid!

Latona & the Lycian Peasants

I thought that the story of Latona and the Lycian Peasants would be a good story to try to find an illustration to represent, and I found that there were many other people that felt the same way. Literally hundreds of artistic representations of the myth exist, and thanks to the internet, I stumbled upon a few that were just what I was looking for. The last one is a picture of the central fountain in the garden terrace of Versailles and shows the peasants in various stages of transformation. Great stuff! (Also check out the summary in my Metamorphoses page.)