Through her tears, Ariadne saw the man who would marry her with a crown made of stars.
Dionysus & Ariadne
This was such a fun piece to work on and I have to say the goat snatched my heart the moment I finished it. I don’t know if I’ll ever draw a goat as good as this one.
For the the fifth part of the series, I decided to do something a little different. Ariadne deserves her own post, as a hero and goddess in her own right - so, here are my favorite pieces that honor her. The links for Apollon,Artemis,Hermes, and Dionysos can be found here.
In order: 1) Ariadne by Heinrich Dannecker, 1812-14, Liebieghaus, Frankfurt, front and back view. 2) Ariadne Abandoned by Theseus on Naxos by Angelica Kauffman, c. 1782, Gemäldegalerie, Dresden. 3) Triumph of Ariadne by Hans Makart, 1874, Belvedere Palace, Vienna. 4) Autumn; or Ariadne and Bacchus by Domenico Piola, 1687-88, Palazzo Rosso, Genoa - ceiling fresco. 5) Ariadne Handing Theseus the Thread by Johann Michael Rottmayr, 1705-08, Liechtenstein Museum, Vienna - ceiling fresco. 6) Bacchus, Venus, and Ariadne by Tintoretto, 1576-77, Palazzo Ducale, Venice. 7) Ariadne by John William Waterhouse, 1898, private collection. 8) Ariadne by Joshua Reynolds, c. 1780, private collection.
“I’m sorry, prof, I couldn’t do my homework because I had to save the world. Furthermore, a war god who was passing by destroyed all my notes and books, so it really would have been impossible, you see…”
Another painting based on the 21 letters from Ovidius, collectively known under the name Heroides. The story of Ariadne is most renowned from her helping her beloved Theseus to kill the Minotaur and escape out of the labyrinth that her father had built. She did this by giving him a ball of thread so that he could find his way back. Here she is shown sleeping on a bench, while her lover is leaving her behind and sails away. The two panthers represent the god Dionysus who seduces her and makes her his wife.
In the Vatican Museum, there is a marble Hellenistic sculpture showing Ariadne in almost the same pose as on this painting. Waterhouse must have used it as a model. There are also obvious resemblances with the painting of Saint Cecilia (1895): the ship in the background, the balustrade separation and the sleeping woman to name just a few. In 1895, there was a large exhibition of Venetian art in London and its effect on his paintings is undeniable. Waterhouse becomes more and more influenced by the paintings of Botticelli and other works from the Italian Renaissance.
