Venus and Adonis

In the early 1560s, Venice was passing the story of Venus and Adonis around in engravings. Titian had painted his own version for the King of Spain a few years before, and Cornelis Cort's prints carried it into other workshops. Paolo Veronese, in his early thirties, took up the same myth and cooled it right down. Venus has dreamed that her mortal lover will die on the hunt, and she is trying to keep him home. Titian gives you a struggle of bodies. Veronese keeps his two figures almost still, their bond held in glances more than in grip. She has gathered the leashes of Adonis's hunting dogs into one hand and slipped his horn out of reach, small household gestures set against a death she has already seen coming. He only leans toward her, calm, not yet gone.