Venus and Adonis
by LIONE, Andrea di, Oil on canvas, 116 x 153 cm
The subject is drawn from the passage in Ovid’s Metamorphoses (X.506-538) illustrating the love of Venus and Adonis, and specifically the dramatic moment when Venus seeks to dissuade Adonis from leaving for the hunt, thereby avoiding a fatal outcome. The artist treated this mythological subject in an entirely classical vein, with references to Poussin.
There is another signed version of the subject by Lione (Rome, private collection).