Jupiter and Juno on Mount Ida (Rennes version) - Antoine Coypel
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Description
In Canto XIV of the Iliad, Hera (Juno) goes to Mount Ida to intoxicate her husband Zeus (Jupiter) with love. Poseidon, warned by Sommeil, takes advantage of the situation to fly to the rescue of the Greeks, unbeknownst to the sleeping Zeus.
The seduction of Zeus by Hera, whom Aphrodite has adorned with all the charms of Love, provides Homer with the opportunity for an ample lyrical scene:
"What words did you just utter, terrifying Cronides?
You want to taste love in my arms right now
On this peak of Ida, where all is exposed?
But what if one of the ever-living gods
Saw us asleep and went off to tell the story
To the other gods? I wouldn't dare enter your home,
To get out of this bed: it would really be a scandal! [...]
At these words, Zeus, master of the clouds (nephelêgeréta Zeus), replied:
No, Hera, do not fear that man or god can see you,
for I am going to see you. For I'm going to wrap you in a great golden cloud,
And we shall escape the very gaze of the Sun,
However bright and penetrating the radiance of his rays.
The son of Cronos, at these words, took his wife in his arms.
Then beneath them the divine soil brought forth tender grass,
Where fresh lotus, saran, hyacinth mingled,
A soft, tight carpet that held him off the ground.
There they both lay, enveloped
by a beautiful cloud of gold. Of a beautiful golden cloud with rich dew pearls.
And so Zeus fell asleep on the summit of Gargare,
drunk with sleep and love. Drunk with sleep and love, his wife in his arms.
Then sweet Sleep ran to the Achaean ships,
To warn the god who shakes and sustains the earth [=Poseidon]. "
(Iliad, Canto XIV, vv. 329-355.)
On the painting, top right, Coypel has depicted Juno's peacock and, between Jupiter and Juno, Jupiter's eagle. Behind Juno, two cherubs carry the torches of the hymen: Juno is Jupiter's lawful wife and, according to Homer, she married him on the Ida. Above the divine couple, Jupiter heaps a cloud of gold that will hide them from the eyes of men and gods alike.
2. Revolutionary seizure, 1794.
3. Pendant of Venus bringing weapons to Aeneas.
Technical Data
Notice #001140
