Venus and Mars Surprised by Vulcan

Tintoretto painted this in Venice in the 1550s, and instead of a grand mythological drama he turned it into a domestic farce. The old story is that Venus and Mars are lovers, caught out by her husband Vulcan. Here Vulcan has just barged in, but he is bent over his wife's naked body fumbling with the sheets, half-forgetting why he came. Mars, the god of war, is hiding under the table like a caught schoolboy, trying to shush the little dog that keeps barking at his hiding place. Cupid has fallen asleep in his cot by the window and is no help to anyone. Watch the round mirror on the wall behind the bed. It catches Vulcan leaning over Venus from another angle, so you see the same awkward scene twice at once.