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Jupiter and Semele

Image credit: The National Gallery, London

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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.

The National Gallery, London

London

Title

Jupiter and Semele

Date

about 1545

Medium

Oil on spruce

Measurements

H 22.7 x W 65.4 cm

Accession number

NG1476

Acquisition method

Bought, 1896

Work type

Painting

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The National Gallery, London

Trafalgar Square, London, Greater London WC2N 5DN England

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