Arachne challenges Minerva in a weaving contest

This canvas was made to be seen from below. Between about 1575 and 1585 Tintoretto painted it for a ceiling, probably in the Palazzo Dona dalle Rose in Venice, and it was most likely octagonal, so the figures tilt sharply away above the viewer's head. The story is from Ovid. Arachne, a young weaver from Lydia, was so confident of her skill that she challenged the goddess Minerva to a contest at the loom. Tintoretto catches the moment before the verdict: Arachne leans into her weaving while Minerva watches from outside the loom, silent, measuring what the mortal girl can do. In the myth the goddess, stung by how good the work is, turns Arachne into a spider. On this canvas that is still a moment away.