Myths and Legends

Myths and legends, with their fantastical settings and parade of exotic creatures and beautiful immortals, have inspired some of the most popular works in the National Gallery Collection. The latest addition to the best-selling Pocket Guides series leads the modern viewer through this important aspect of Western art. This lively and enjoyable guide explores how artists have drawn on mythology since the dawn of the Renaissance. Through a selection of key classical figures, Mari Griffith explains how artists used mythology for inspiration--in decorative panels for furniture, schemes for palaces, allegories, and non-narrative paintings of single figures. Among the masterpieces discussed are Titian's Bacchus and Ariadne, and Rubens's Judgement of Paris.