Venus and Adonis Paintings (c1560). A composition of Venus and Adonis by the Venetian Renaissance artist Titian has been painted a number of times, by Titian himself, by his studio assistants and by others. In all there are some thirty versions that may date from the 16th century, the nudity of Venus undoubtedly accounting for this popularity. It is unclear which of the surviving versions, if any, is the original or prime version, and a matter of debate how much involvement Titian himself had with surviving versions. There is a precise date for only one version, that in the Prado in Madrid, which is documented in correspondence between Titian and Philip II of Spain in 1554. However, this appears to be a later repetition of a composition first painted a considerable time earlier, possibly as early as the 1520s. The Prado version is set at dawn and shows the young Adonis pulling himself away from Venus, his lover. He carries a feathered spear or dart, a weapon often used in hunting in the 16th century. The leads of his three hounds are wound around his arm at right. Under the trees behind them at left Cupid lies asleep, with his bow and quiver of arrows hanging from a tree; this is not a time for love. High in the sky, a figure rides a chariot; this is either Venus from later in the story, or Apollo or Sol, representing the dawn. Venus sits on a rock covered with a rich tablecloth with gold braid edges and buttons. Adonis has a horn hanging from his belt; his dress is classical, taken from Roman sculptures. It is thought that the Roman poet Ovid was the main source, though other literary and visual sources have been suggested. In Book X of Ovid's Metamorphoses Adonis is a beautiful youth, a royal orphan, who spends his time hunting. Venus falls in love with him after one of Cupid's arrows hits her by mistake. They hunt together, but she avoids the fiercer animals, and warns him about them, citing the story of Atalanta. One day Adonis hunts alone and is gored by a wounded wild boar. Venus, in the sky in her chariot, hears his cries but cannot save him. In some versions, the death of Adonis is shown in the distance to the right. In Ovid, it is Venus who leaves first, and Adonis pulling himself away seems to be Titian's invention, for which some criticized him. Two basic types of the composition were described by Harold Wethey, who called them the Prado and Farnese types; the Prado type is most common and is described above. Alternative terms are the three-dog and two-dog types. They are in most respects the same, but the Farnese type has a tighter crop on the subject and a wider shape, losing most of the sky. Adonis' raised hand is just below the picture edge, so the feathers on the spear are not seen, nor is the chariot in the sky, though the sun bursts through clouds in about the same place. There are only two hounds and no gold vessel on the ground at left. Cupid is brought closer to the main couple, and is now awake, holding a dove in his hands. The heights of these versions vary from 160-200 cm, but the widths are more consistent at 190-200 cm. All the Farnese versions are a good deal smaller, but their tighter composition makes the figures about the same size. The version now in Madrid's Museo del Prado is generally agreed to be the earliest of the surviving versions. Although not certainly documented until 1626, it is generally regarded as the painting documented as despatched to King Philip II of Spain in London by Titian in September 1554, as announced in a letter which survives. Philip received it in December, and wrote to a courtier complaining about a fold made in packing. The Prado picture has a seam where two pieces of canvas were joined which is indeed now very evident on the picture. A theory proposed by William R. Rearick was that this first painting was in fact the Lausanne version, and Titian subsequently sent another version, the one now in the Prado, but this is rejected by Nicholas Penny and remains controversial. Adonis looks older in this than other versions, and Venus' body is shorter; later versions may have been made by copying the London version, which was retained in the studio in Venice. The Prado version is at least mostly by Titian, though Penny finds the head of Venus disappointing. It was part of a series of mythological paintings called poesie intended for King Philip II of Spain. Venus and Adonis was designed to be viewed alongside Danae, the first of the poesie, which was delivered in 1553, although they are not same size. A later version of Danae is now shown in the same room in the Prado, with other Titians.