![Nicholas Poussin - Atalanta and Meleager’s Hunt [1637-38] by Gandalf's Gallery](http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7404/11168894375_bd9281eee3.jpg)
This scene drawn from Ovid's Metamorphosis depicts an episode from the myth of Meleager and Atalanta: the moment when the expedition organized by Meleager goes off in search of the wild boar sent by Diana, the Roman goddess of the hunt, to devastate the mythical kingdom of Calydon as vengeance for not having honored her altars.
The protagonists, accompanied by other classical heroes, are at the right of the composition. Atalanta is blonde and wears a blue dress and a helmet. A statue of the goddess of the hunt presides over the centre of the scene along with two of her symbols: a bow and some arrows. A city is visible in the background and, at the right, a statue of a satyr playing a syrinx. Atalanta was the first to wound the beast, and Meleager finished him off. Impressed by Atalanta's beauty, he offered the animal's pelt and head to her as a trophy. This act led to his death.
The elegant, unhurried composition recalls classical low reliefs, with their characteristic contained dynamism. This painting is paired with the Sacrifice to Priapus, now in the Museum of Art in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Both works are listed in the 1701 inventory of Madrid's Buen Retiro Palace, where they were part of the decoration of “stories of Rome.”
[Museo Nacional del Prado - Oil on canvas, 160 x 360 cm]