D'après Le TITIEN - Tiziano Vecellio (Pieve di Cadore (1488/1490- Venise 1576) Venus and Adonis (Ovid, Metamorphoses, X, 520-728). Oil on canvas (Re-tooled; restorations; old varnish yellowed and soiled). 178.5 x 212 cm. In love with the handsome Adonis, Venus tries to dissuade her young lover from going out to hunt dangerous beasts, but to no avail. "Neither your youth, nor your beauty, nor anything that has touched the heart of Venus touches the lions, nor the boars with rough silks, the eyes nor the hearts of the ferocious beasts" (v.545 and following). An early version of a composition made for Philip II of Spain (ca. 1553-1554), now in the Prado Museum (canvas 186 x 207 cm.). (cf. Filippo Pedroco, Titian, n°180, p. 236 of the catalogue - Liana Levi, 2000). The object of several replicas, often with the help of assistants (London, The National Gallery, canvas 177 x 187 cm.; Rome, Palazzo Barberini; canvas 187 x 184 cm.), the work also inspired autographed variants (Washington, National Gallery; New York, Metropolitan), as well as simple copies (cf. Peter Humfrey, n°191 & 226, 265 & 266 - Ludion, 2007).