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c. 1570

Venus and Adonis

Giorgio Ghisi

Italian, 1520 - 1582

Venus's infatuation with the mortal Adonis, described by Ovid in his Metamorphoses, was among the best-known mythological tales involving the great goddess of love. Fearing for the safety of her handsome lover, Venus urged him to hunt only harmless rabbits and deer, but Adonis ignored her pleas and encountered death at the tusks of a wild boar.

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Giorgio Ghisi, Venus and Adonis, c. 1570 | Philadelphia Art Museum