Juno discovering Jupiter with Io

In 1618, when Lastman signed and dated this panel, the escapades of the ancient gods were popular subjects in Holland. He chose the moment the king of the gods is caught out. Jupiter has seduced the young woman Io and, hearing his wife coming, turned her into a white heifer. Now Juno sweeps in on a cloud with her peacocks, and he sits naked and startled, one hand still in the animal's curls. Cupid, his bowstring slack, pulls a purple cloth off its head, helped by a figure of Deceit in a mask and a fox skin. The birds hold the sequel. Their tails have none of the usual eye markings. The goddess will ask for the heifer as a gift and set the giant Argus, who has 100 eyes, to guard her. Jupiter has Argus killed, and his eyes end up on the peacock's tail.