The document contains summaries of several paintings from Greek/Roman mythology along with their artists and background information. One painting summarized is Sandro Botticelli's "The Birth of Venus" from the 15th century Italian Renaissance. It depicts the goddess Venus emerging from the sea on a shell as the wind god Zephyr blows roses around her. A nymph reaches to cover Venus with a cloak as she steps onto the shore. The painting illustrates the myth of Venus' birth from sea foam. Another painting summarized is Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres' "Oedipus and the Sphinx" from 1808 which depicts the moment when Oedipus confidently solves the Sphinx's riddle.

1. Roman/Greek Mythical Painting
By Andrew Jeong

2. The Birth of Venus
By Sandro Botticelli

3. • Oil on Canvas during Italian Renaissance
• A Roman myth relating to Venus, the goddess of
love, which is equivalent to Aphrodite of Greek myth
• The artist wanted to portray divine love through the
painting. By making Venus the central point of image, it
conveys the idea of importance. Unlike the that of High
Renaissance, this painting of the Italian Renaissance
adopted the concept of Humanism and Botticelli
implemented human like figure of Venus into this
painting. All together, it tells a story of Venus born from
divine shell all while she creates serenity, unity, and
perfection in her surrounding.

4. Bibliography
• "Birth of Venus." Artble: The Home of
Passionate Art Lovers. N.p., n.d. Web. 18
Oct. 2012. <http://www.artble.com/
artists/sandro_botticelli/paintings/
birth_of_venus>.
• "Botticelli, Sandro." WebMuseum:. N.p., n.d.
Web. 18 Oct. 2012. <http://
www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/botticelli/
>.

5. Art Hunt
John Han
Period B3

6. Title and Artist
• Title: Orpheus and Eurydice
• Artist: TizianoVecellio

7. The Painting

8. The Myth
• The Greek tragic story of Orpheus and
Eurydice

9. How it’s retold
• The painting depicts two scenes from the
myth. On the left, a serpent, shown as a
dragon, bites Eurydice. On the right, the
scene where Orpheus makes a mistake of
looking back at Eurydice as they exit the
inferno of Hades is illustrated.

10. Citation
Vecellio, Tiziano. Orpheus and Eurydice. 1508.
Oil on wood. The Metropolitan Museum of
Art, New York, New York.

11. Helen of Troy
Evelyn de Morgan
1898
The Illiad
Instead of weapons and battles, De Morgan
decides to paint Helena wearing a beautiful
pink robe and paint her beautiful face using
the artistic elements. This painting
illustrates her overwhelming beauty, which
relates to how she was very attractive to
men.
Morgan, Evelyn De. Helen of Troy. Digital
image. Web. <http://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/File:Helen_Of_Troy.jpg>

12. Medusa
Caravaggio
1597
The Illiad
In Greek mythology, Medusa is
depicted as a monster who has a ugly
face of a female attached with living
venomous snakes. Thus, this painting
lucidly illustrates the portrayal of
Medusa.
Caravaggio. Medusa. Digital
image. Web.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Me
dusa.jpg>

13. Oedipus and the Sphinx
Jessica Cho
Ms. Hogshead
World Lit A3
October 18, 2012

14. Painted by Jean-
Auguste-
Dominique Ingres
Date: 1808
Museum: Louvre
Museum, Paris, Fr
ance
Neoclassicism
http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/jean-auguste-
dominique-ingres-oedipus-and-the-sphinx

15. The Myth
• Oedipus guessed the Sphinx’s riddle and saved
the city of Thebes
• Oedipus’ wife turned out to be his mother
• Oedipus killed a man who later turned out to
be his father
• Oedipus blinded himself as a repentance
• The painting depicts Oedipus confidently
solving Sphinx’s riddle.

16. Pygmalion and Galatea
Jean-Léon Gérôme
Rachel Han

17. Eros
Galatea
Pygmalion

18. Greek Mythology:
Pygmalion and Galatea
• This painting is based on the story of Pygmalion and Galatea.
Pygmalion was a famous sculptor who fell in love with Galatea, a
beautiful female figurine that he had sculpted. Unable to resist his
love, Pygmalion prayed to Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love, on the
day of her celebration. Deeply moved by his devotion and the
beauty of his sculpture, Aphrodite granted his wish and blew life
into Galatea, who later on married Pygmalion and lived with him
until the end of their days.
• In this painting, the artist depicted the scene in which Galatea
slowly becomes alive. Her upper body has become completely
human, expressing her admiration and love for her
creator, Pygmalion, while her legs are still at its cold, ivory state. On
the top right corner, Eros, Aphrodite’s son and messenger of
love, shoots his arrow to represent Pygmalion and Galatea’s love
and Aphrodite’s approval of their love.

19. Works Cited:
• "Greece Myths: Pygmalion and Galatea."
Greece Myths: Pygmalion and Galatea.
N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Oct. 2012.
<http://www.greeka.com/greece-
myths/pygmalion-galatea.htm>.
• "HarvestHeart – Jean Gerome, Pygmalion and
Galatea, Oil On..." HarvestHeart. N.p., n.d.
Web. 18 Oct. 2012.
<http://harvestheart.tumblr.com/post/321034
3930>.

20. The
Triumph of
Galatea,RapBy Jeein Jeon
hael

21. The Painting

22. The myth
• The beautiful Nereid Galatea falls in love with the peasant
shepherd Acis.
• Her consort, Polyphemus (one-eyed giant), throws an
enormous pillar and kills Acis.

23. How is the myth retold through the
painting?
• No main events of the story
• The scene of the nymph's apotheosis
• Galatea appears surrounded by other sea creatures whose
forms are inspired by Michelangelo
• The bright colors and decoration are inspired by ancient
Roman paintings.
• At the left, a sturdy Triton (partly man and fish) abducts a
sea nymph and another Triton uses a shell as a trumpet
• Galatea rides a shell-coach drawn by two dolphins
• Galatea not only resembles one human but also represents the
ideal beauty

24. Works Cited
Krén, Emil, and Daniel Marx. "Web Gallery of Art, Image
Collection, Virtual Museum, Searchable Database of
European Fine Arts (1000-1850)." Web Gallery of Art,
Image Collection, Virtual Museum, Searchable
Database of European Fine Arts (1000-1850). N.p.,
n.d. Web. 18 Oct. 2012. <http://www.wga.hu/frames-
e.html?/html/r/raphael/5roma/1/05farne.html>.

25. Art Hunt
Nadya Kim and Lina Chang
World Lit A1

26. The Judgement of Paris
by Peter Paul Rubens

27. The Myth
• Rubens tells the story of Paris’ judgment of
which of the three goddesses (Venus, Juno or
Minerva) was the most beautiful.
• Paris chose Venus and awarded her the golden
apple
• The jealousy and fury of the goddesses were
one of the reasons that led to the Trojan War.

28. How it’s retold through the painting
• Alterations show that Rubens first painted an
earlier moment when Mercury told the
goddesses to undress; the final stage shows Paris
awarding the apple to Venus, who stands
between Minerva and Juno; Mercury stands
behind Paris and above is the Fury, Alecto.
• Paris was rescued by shepherds when he was
young because he was prophesized that he would
ruin the city so he was abandoned (his shepherd’s
staff is clearly seen in the painting).

29. Works Cited
• Rubens, Peter Paul. Judgement of Paris. 1632-5. The National
Gallery, Trafalgar Square, London WC2N 5DN. The National Gallery. The
National Gallery. Web. 18 Oct. 2012.

30. Psyche Welcomed to the
Underworld by Pluto and Proserpine
Jane Jun-P3(B)

31. Psyche Welcomed to the
Underworld by Pluto and
Proserpine
By Charles-Joseph Natoire
Collection of Louvre Museum

32. The myth of Eros and psyche
– -alludes to the Greek Myth of Eros and Psyche
– -This scene shows how Psyche receiving the bottle
with a drop of Proserpine's beauty.
– -After Psyche falls in love with Eros but does not
follow what he says, she is offered by Aphrodite to
do certain things in order to meet Eros again. As
one of the impossible tasks, Aphrodite demanded
Psyche to go to the underworld to get
Propserpine’sbeatuy.

33. Works Cited
• Natoire, Charles-Joseph. Psyche Welcomed to
the Underworld by Pluto and Proserpine.
1734-35. The Louvre, Paris.

34. Birth of Venus
Hyojin kim

35. Birth of Venus

36. Birth of Venus
- Title: “Birth of Venus”
- Artist: SandroBetticelli
- Myth: In myth, Venus-Aphrodite was born of sea-foam.
Roman theology presents Venus as the yielding, watery
female principle, essential to the generation and
balance of life. Her male counterparts in the Roman
pantheon, Vulcan and Mars, are active and fiery. Venus
absorbs and tempers the male essence, uniting the
opposite of male and female in mutual affection. She is
essentially assimilative and benign, and embraces
several otherwise quite disparate functions.

37. Birth of venus
• In Botticelli’s “Birth of Venus”, the goddess
Venus emerges from the sea upon a shell in
accordance with the myth that explains her
birth. Her shell is pushed to the shore from
the winds produced by the Zephyr wind-gods
amid a shower of roses. As the goddess is
about to step on the shore, one of the
Nymphs reaches out to cover her with a
purple cloak.

38. Work cited

39. The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli
The painting depicts the scene in which Venus, the goddess of beauty and love, is born as she
arises from the foam of the sea water. After Saturn castrated his father Caelus, he threw Caelus’s
genital into the sea water. The mixture of Caelus’s blood and sea water created Venus and
prompted this miraculous birth.
In the painting, Venus is located in the center, with a nymph reaching her to cover her with a
cloak. The Zephyr win pushes her towards the shore. The painting depicts the exact moment in
which Venus comes to life, coming out of a shell. The painting serves to emphasize the elegance
and beauty of Venus.
Works Cited
Finnan, Vincent. “The Birth of Venus.” Italian Renaissance. 2012. Web. 18 Oct. 2012.
Reynolds, Joshua. “Venus.” New World Encyclopedia. 2 Apr. 2008. Web. 18 Oct. 2012

40. JAMIE PARK and
Andrew Oh’s
Classwork
YEAHHHHHHH

41. “Aphrodite and Eros
• Title: “Aphrodite and
Eros”
• Lucas Cranach Sr.
• “The Tale of Eros and
Psyche”
• Aphrodite is hiding Eros
from Psyche.
• St. Petersburg Museum

42. Works cited
• “Greek Mythology Paintings.” iGreekmythology.
• 2009. Web. 18 October 2012.

43. The Choice of Hercules

44. Art Hunt
• Title: The Choice of Hercules
• Artist: Annibale Carracci
• The painting: Oil on Canvas
• The Myth it relates to: Relates to the myth of
the great hero, Hercules.

45. • How this myth is retold through the paining:
The moment when Hercules had to choose his
destiny. Hard journey to success or easy
journey to no success. Left woman represents
hard destiny and other represents easier
destiny.
• Work cited:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Choice_of_
Hercules