Jupiter and Semele
Artist: Jacopo Tintoretto (Italian, About 1518 - 1594)
Original Dimensions: 8 7/8" x 25 3/4"
Location: National Gallery of Art, London
About Artwork: (About 1545) "The story of Jupiter and Semele is told in Ovid’s Metamorphoses. The god Jupiter takes the mortal woman Semele as his mistress and makes her pregnant. When Jupiter’s wife, the goddess Juno, finds out, she disguises herself and suggests to Semele that her lover may not really be Jupiter. She tells Semele to ask Jupiter to come to her in the form he has when he visits Juno. Jupiter arrives as a mighty thunderbolt armed with fire and Semele is burned to ashes. Jupiter swoops down ringed by stormy grey clouds. Golden light burns behind him and flames spurt from his hands and feet. An eagle – a form Jupiter takes for his seductions – flies with him towards Semele, who lies waiting, naked on her bed. This picture was probably part of a series of paintings originally incorporated into a piece of furniture such as a bed." - (National Gallery of Art, London)

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