Complete the account of the classical sources.
The single most-used source for mythological painting is Ovid's ______. Painters used the ______ names of the gods because their sources were in that language. The commentary tradition that read the myths as Christian allegory is the ______. Venus is identified by doves, a shell and the presence of ______.
Word bank: Metamorphoses · Roman · Ovide moralisé · Cupid · Greek · Aeneid
Hints
- The first blank is a poem in fifteen books.
- The third blank names the moralising tradition.
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The single most-used source for mythological painting is Ovid's Metamorphoses. Painters used the Roman names of the gods because their sources were in that language. The commentary tradition that read the myths as Christian allegory is the Ovide moralisé. Venus is identified by doves, a shell and the presence of Cupid.
The second and third blanks together explain the whole arrangement: Latin sources gave Roman names, and moralising commentary gave a Christian reading, so the classical material arrived pre-translated in both senses at once.
Practise Greco-Roman Sources I: the Gods and Their Texts
The app has 4 more questions on this lesson, and keeps your place in the course. Art History I is free to start.
More questions on Greco-Roman Sources I: the Gods and Their Texts
- Why do Renaissance mythological paintings use Roman rather than Greek names for the gods?
- Which are reasons patrons commissioned mythological subjects?
- Sort each attribute by the deity it identifies.
- The Ovide moralisé read the Metamorphoses as Christian allegory.
- How many books does Ovid's Metamorphoses contain?
- Match each classical text to what painters took from it.
- Arrange the steps of identifying a mythological subject, in order.
- Renaissance patrons commissioned depictions of pagan deities without compromising their Christian faith.…
- Homer reached most Renaissance painters directly in the original Greek.