'Landscape with Pyramus and Thisbe'

Gaspard Dughet (1615-1675)

Accession number WAG1310

Dughet's typically luxuriant landscape, painted in about 1656-7, shows Thisbe discovering the dead body of her lover Pyramus, in the foreground. Pyramus lies beside Thisbe's bloodied cloak, which she had dropped when frightened off by a lioness. Pyramus's discovery of the cloak caused him to commit suicide and prompted Thisbe to follow suit. The story of these tragic lovers, told by the ancient Roman poet Ovid, was particularly popular with 16th and 17th century painters.

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