'Jupiter and Io' by Correggio

'Jupiter and Io' (c.1530) by Antonio da Correggio; Museum of Fine Arts, Vienna

Today it was easy again to find a painting. I've always been interested in Greek mythology and as you might know, mythology, like symbolism, has always played an important part in art. I have books on mythology in art and one of the paintings that can be found in these books, is this one by Antonio da Correggio, born in August 1489 and died on 5th of March, 1534. He was one of the leading painters of the Parma school of the Italian Renaissance and a painter in the Mannerist tradition. In this painting, Io, the daughter of the first king of Argos, named Inachus, is seduced by Jupiter (Zeus in Greek). Jupiter had many mistresses, some of them mortal, and would appear to them in a transformed state in order to seduce them. Io was a mortal, a nymph. Jupiter had turned himself into a cloud and had hidden behind the dunes to be out of sight of his jealous wife Juno (Hera in Greek). This painting is quite erotic and sensuous. Imagine being caressed by a cloud!