Sources
Sources and further reading
The text in this guide was compiled for general readers from the sources below. Facts about each work come from the holding museum’s records or, where those could not be reached, from reliable catalogues and references; the wording is new.
Museum records and catalogues, by work
Roman, sculptor unknown, Jupiter of Smyrna. Louvre, Paris. Records consulted: collections.louvre.fr, sculptures-jardins.chateauversailles.fr.
Peter Paul Rubens, Juno and Argus. Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, Cologne. Records consulted: wallraf.museum, lindahall.org, rubenshuis.be.
Greek, sculptor unknown, Bronze God from Cape Artemision. National Archaeological Museum, Athens. Records consulted: olympicgames.culture.gov.gr, namuseum.gr, namuseum.gr, human.libretexts.org, nataliavogeikoff.com.
Roman, after Pheidias, Varvakeion Athena. National Archaeological Museum, Athens. Records consulted: namuseum.gr, museum.classics.cam.ac.uk, quod.lib.umich.edu, smarthistory.org, cts.perseids.org.
Andrea Mantegna, Minerva Expelling the Vices from the Garden of Virtue. Louvre, Paris. Records consulted: collections.louvre.fr, mini-site.louvre.fr, mini-site.louvre.fr, quattrocentoitalia.artinterp.org.
Roman, after a Greek bronze, Apollo Belvedere. Vatican Museums, Vatican City. Records consulted: museivaticani.va, m.museivaticani.va.
Johannes Vermeer, Diana and Her Nymphs. Mauritshuis, The Hague. Records consulted: mauritshuis.nl.
Diego Velázquez, Mars. Museo del Prado, Madrid. Records consulted: museodelprado.es.
Sandro Botticelli, The Birth of Venus. Uffizi Gallery, Florence. Records consulted: uffizi.it.
Diego Velázquez, Vulcan’s Forge. Museo del Prado, Madrid. Records consulted: museodelprado.es.
Attributed to Praxiteles, Hermes and the Infant Dionysus. Archaeological Museum of Olympia. Records consulted: museum.classics.cam.ac.uk, digital.library.cornell.edu, allofgreeceone.culture.gov.gr.
Giulio Romano (design) and Rinaldo Mantovano, Sala dei Giganti (Room of the Giants). Palazzo Te, Mantua. Records consulted: lombardiabeniculturali.it, finestresullarte.info, britannica.com.
Cornelis van Haarlem, The Fall of the Titans. SMK, National Gallery of Denmark, Copenhagen. Records consulted: connect.smk.dk, artsandculture.google.com.
Peter Paul Rubens, The Fall of Phaeton. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Records consulted: nga.gov.
Pergamene workshop, Pergamon Altar: Athena Fighting the Giants. Pergamonmuseum, Berlin. Records consulted: artsandculture.google.com, artsandculture.google.com, smarthistory.org, smb.museum.
Chalcidian workshop, Hydria with Zeus Fighting Typhon. Staatliche Antikensammlungen, Munich. Records consulted: iconographic.warburg.sas.ac.uk, theoi.com, arth.sjsu.edu.
Piero di Cosimo, The Myth of Prometheus. Alte Pinakothek, Munich. Records consulted: sammlung.pinakothek.de, pop.culture.gouv.fr, geometriesofcreation.lib.uiowa.edu.
Peter Paul Rubens and Frans Snyders, Prometheus Bound. Philadelphia Museum of Art. Records consulted: philamuseum.org, philamuseum.org, legacyweb.philamuseum.org, historytoday.com.
Jean Cousin the Elder, Eva Prima Pandora. Louvre, Paris. Records consulted: utpictura18.univ-amu.fr, cartelfr.louvre.fr, britannica.com, meer.com.
Michelangelo, The Deluge. Sistine Chapel ceiling, Vatican City. Records consulted: courses.lumenlearning.com.
Titian, Danaë and the Shower of Gold. Museo del Prado, Madrid. Records consulted: museodelprado.es, museodelprado.es, gardnermuseum.org.
Titian, The Rape of Europa. Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston. Records consulted: gardnermuseum.org, gardnermuseum.org.
Correggio, The Abduction of Ganymede. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. Records consulted: khm.at, khm.at, artsandculture.google.com, artsandculture.google.com.
Piero del Pollaiuolo, Apollo and Daphne. National Gallery, London. Records consulted: nationalgallery.org.uk.
Titian, Diana and Actaeon. National Gallery, London, and National Galleries of Scotland (shared). Records consulted: nationalgallery.org.uk, gardnermuseum.org.
Titian, Venus and Adonis. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Records consulted: metmuseum.org, nga.gov.
Sandro Botticelli, Venus and Mars. National Gallery, London. Records consulted: nationalgallery.org.uk.
Jean-Léon Gérôme, Pygmalion and Galatea. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Records consulted: metmuseum.org.
John William Waterhouse, Echo and Narcissus. Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool. Records consulted: liverpoolmuseums.org.uk, artsandculture.google.com, victorianweb.org.
Hellenistic sculptor, Venus de Milo. Louvre, Paris. Records consulted: collections.louvre.fr, api-www.louvre.fr, louvre.fr.
Rembrandt, The Abduction of Proserpina. Gemäldegalerie, Berlin. Records consulted: smb.museum-digital.de, artsandculture.google.com.
Frederic Leighton, The Return of Persephone. Leeds Art Gallery. Records consulted: artuk.org, rbkc.gov.uk, rbkc.gov.uk, uw.manifoldapp.org, artfund.org.
Caravaggio, Bacchus. Uffizi Gallery, Florence. Records consulted: uffizi.it, catalogo.fondazionezeri.unibo.it, finestresullarte.info.
Nicolas Poussin, Midas and Bacchus. Alte Pinakothek, Munich. Records consulted: sammlung.pinakothek.de.
Exekias, Dionysus Cup. Staatliche Antikensammlungen, Munich. Records consulted: bavarikon.de, ancientrome.ru, smarthistory.org, theoi.com.
Joachim Patinir, Charon Crossing the Styx. Museo del Prado, Madrid. Records consulted: museodelprado.es.
Roman, after an Athenian relief, Orpheus, Eurydice and Hermes. Louvre, Paris. Records consulted: collections.louvre.fr, ancientrome.ru, digital.library.cornell.edu.
Camille Corot, Orpheus Leading Eurydice from the Underworld. Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Records consulted: emuseum.mfah.org.
Sandro Botticelli, The Map of Hell. Vatican Apostolic Library. Records consulted: utpictura18.univ-amu.fr, scrinium.org, finestresullarte.info, artsandculture.google.com.
Caravaggio, Medusa. Uffizi Gallery, Florence. Records consulted: artsandculture.google.com, uffizi.it, catalogo.fondazionezeri.unibo.it, visittuscany.com.
Benvenuto Cellini, Perseus with the Head of Medusa. Loggia dei Lanzi, Florence. Records consulted: finestresullarte.info, theflorentine.net.
Titian, Perseus and Andromeda. Wallace Collection, London. Records consulted: artuk.org, wallacecollection.org, artuk.org.
Glykon of Athens, after Lysippos, Farnese Hercules. National Archaeological Museum, Naples. Records consulted: europeana.eu, smarthistory.org, sigecweb.beniculturali.it, openaccess-api.clevelandart.org, camws.org.
Annibale Carracci, The Choice of Hercules. Museo di Capodimonte, Naples. Records consulted: artsandculture.google.com, sigecweb.beniculturali.it, sigecweb.beniculturali.it.
Euphronios, Krater with Heracles Wrestling Antaeus. Louvre, Paris. Records consulted: collections.louvre.fr, louvre.fr.
Group of London B 174, Amphora with Theseus Killing the Minotaur. Louvre, Paris. Records consulted: collections.louvre.fr, theoi.com.
After Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Landscape with the Fall of Icarus. Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels. Records consulted: artsandculture.google.com, codart.nl, lalibre.be.
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Oedipus Explains the Riddle of the Sphinx. Louvre, Paris. Records consulted: pop.culture.gouv.fr, utpictura18.univ-amu.fr, collections.louvre.fr.
Gustave Moreau, Jason. Musée d’Orsay, Paris. Records consulted: musee-orsay.fr, pop.culture.gouv.fr, pubhist.com, pop.culture.gouv.fr, eclecticlight.co.
Eugène Delacroix, Medea about to Kill Her Children. Palais des Beaux-Arts, Lille. Records consulted: pop.culture.gouv.fr, pba.lille.fr, musee-delacroix.fr, metmuseum.org.
Kleitias (painter) and Ergotimos (potter), The François Vase. Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Florence. Records consulted: iconographic.warburg.sas.ac.uk, smarthistory.org, worldhistory.org.
Exekias, Achilles and Ajax Playing a Game. Vatican Museums, Vatican City. Records consulted: museivaticani.va, smarthistory.org, youtube.com.
Peter Paul Rubens, The Judgement of Paris. National Gallery, London. Records consulted: nationalgallery.org.uk, nationalgallery.org.uk, smithsonianmag.com.
Jacques-Louis David, Andromache Mourning Hector. Louvre, Paris (on deposit from the École des Beaux-Arts). Records consulted: collections.louvre.fr, pop.culture.gouv.fr, artsandculture.google.com.
El Greco, Laocoön. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Records consulted: nga.gov, nga.gov, kressfoundation.org.
J. M. W. Turner, Ulysses Deriding Polyphemus. National Gallery, London. Records consulted: nationalgallery.org.uk.
John William Waterhouse, Circe Offering the Cup to Ulysses. Gallery Oldham. Records consulted: batch.artuk.org, artuk.org, victorianweb.org, johnwilliamwaterhouse.com.
Sandro Botticelli, Primavera. Uffizi Gallery, Florence. Records consulted: uffizi.it, lapresse.it.
Guido Reni, Aurora. Casino dell’Aurora Pallavicini, Rome. Records consulted: turismoroma.it, dimorestoricheitaliane.it.
Gustave Moreau, Oedipus and the Sphinx. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Records consulted: metmuseum.org, metmuseum.org.
Background on the myths
Mellenthin, Jessica, and Susan O. Shapiro. Mythology Unbound: An Online Textbook for Classical Mythology. Utah Education Network Pressbooks. Licensed CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Link
Courses that shaped coverage
Imperial College London, Centre for Languages, Culture and Communication. “Greek and Roman Mythology in Art.” Imperial after:hours evening course descriptor. Link
Newby, Zahra. “CX381: Retelling Myths in Greek and Roman Art.” Module description, Department of Classics and Ancient History, University of Warwick, 2025–26. Link
Universidad de los Andes. “HART 1108A: Art and Classical Myth.” Course catalogue, 2017. Link
National Gallery of Art. “Classical Mythology.” Teaching packet. Link