0295CephalusProcris_Luini

0295CephalusProcris_Luini

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Ovid Met. 7.752-65

Bernardo Luini, fresco cycle, 1520-1522, originally at a home of Girolamo Rabia, near Milano, now at National Gallery, Washington

9 fresco panels recovered from their original location are arranged sequentially. This final panel (right) shows a scene not told by Ovid, the final reconciliation of Cephalus and Procris in the temple of Diana. The lintel's inscription "Virginitas" is perhaps best translated as "chastity". Diana, shown inside Luini's remarkable edifice, awaits the arrival of Cephalus, led by a satyr.

Ovid's telling ends with the death of Procris. True to 15th-century sentiments, Niccolò provides for a happy ending. 0295CephalusProcris_diCosimo

Fresco depicting an architectural setting with figures, including a nude man, and the word "VIRGINITAS" above

Luini's myth is based not primarily upon Ovid’s telling, but upon Niccolò da Correggio’s 1487 stage play, Cefalo.

The myth tragic results of jealousy in love. The young lovers’ inability to love sincerely leads to the tragic death of the young bride, at the groom’s own hand.

The commission of this fresco cycle, and other applications of classical art in the décor of his palazzo made Girolamo Rabia a pioneer in the North Italian Renaissance.
The artifact manifests the reception of Ovid by Niccolò da Correggio but also the reception of that narrative.

Photo by RTMacfarlane

OGCMA slides are designed by Roger T. Macfarlane for use in Classical Civilization 241 courses at Brigham Young University.
The present resource contains information assembled for The Oxford Guide to Classical Mythology in the Arts, 1400 – 1990’s, edited by J. Davidson Reid (Oxford 1994), and it is used with express permission from Oxford University Press.
Address concerns or inquiries to macfarlane@byu.edu.