Atalanta1.0021_ReniNaples

Guido Reni, 1575-1642. "Atalanta and Hippomenes", oil on canvas (1618-1619), Madrid, Spain, Museo del Prado Room 026..

Atalanta and Hippomenes are depicted in a moment of distraction, but the story, as Ovid tells it (and Guido, as well, here) will soon find them united.

Guido treated the subject as many as three additional times: another version is owned by the Museo di Capodimonte, Naples (Atalanta1.0021_ReniNaples); two other treatments are mentioned by Reid but said to be "unlocated". "Debate has long raged among Reni scholars," according to the Prado website, "as to which of the two [i.e. the Naples or the Madrid painting] is the 'original'."

Perhaps the subject is intriguing to artists, since in Ovid's telling Venus, telling the tale to Adonis, states self-consciously that "When [Hippomenes] saw [Atalanta'] face and, now unrobed, Her body's beauty, beauty such as mine, Adonis, or yours were you a girl, he marvelled..." (Ov. Met.10.578-80) The artistic challenge, thus, is to depict in paint the most beautiful female, as lovely as Venus herself or as Adonis.

The image at right is derived from the ©Museo Nacional del Prado, which maintains copyright; it is used here in accordance with the Museum's statement of fair use for "academic, research, private studies and internal use in a regulated education institution".