Tiziano, Vecellio di Gregorio – Venus y Adonis Part 1 Prado museum

Description of Titian’s painting Venus and Adonis

The subject of this painting is the dramatic story of the two lovers Venus and Adonis.

The painter Vechellio Titian created the painting at the request of the Spanish king. Philip II greatly appreciated the beauty of the naked female body, so the canvas "Venus and Adonis" became a wonderful wedding gift for the ruler.

The main characters of the painting are the goddess Venus and the beautiful young man Adonis. He was born of the incestuous union of Myrtle and her father. For this the gods punished the woman and turned her into a tree. Some time later Adonis was born, coming out of a tree trunk.

Venus fell madly in love with the young man at first sight, because her heart was struck by his prankster Cupid’s arrow. She knew the prophecies that a sad fate awaited her beloved - he would be killed by a boar while hunting.

The goddess thought that Adonis could be stopped and the misfortune avoided. But fate fulfilled a cruel prophecy. In the place where Adonis shed his blood, roses blossomed. And the tears that Venus shed turned into anemones.

The painting depicts the scene of that fateful day when the stubborn young man did not yield to the goddess’s entreaties and lost his life. Venus clutches him tightly in her arms. Pleading and suffering are expressed in her gaze. She knows that this meeting may be her last, and she tries with all her might to hold her beloved.

Adonis’ face is resolute and indifferent. He is not going to back down from what he has planned. Everything is ready for the hunt, the dogs are harnessed. The first rays of sunlight, breaking through the morning haze, herald the time to hit the road. Not far away, Cupid is dozing peacefully under a sprawling tree. He is indifferent to love’s suffering.

To date, the canvas is under protection in the Madrid Prado Museum. It was painted in 1553. Titian did his work in oil on canvas.