The nymph Echo was in love with the beautiful youth Narcissus, who rejected her cruelly. The goddess Nemesis punished Narcissus by making him fall in love with his own reflection, seen in a pool. Echo died, leaving only her voice, & Narcissus died because his love remained unrequited. The lower of the two nymphs in the trees is probably Echo. The reclining nymph at the bottom, who was originally draped, seems to have been repainted as a nude in the 18th century. The story comes from Ovid's ' Metamorphoses' (Book 3) & was frequently painted, but this is Claude's only known treatment of the subject. It is also one of only two paintings recorded by him as having been made for an English patron who, unfortunately, has not been identified. ...

Create your own bespoke print of Paul Cézanne’s Landscape with Poplars from our collection. About this painting Landscape with Poplars, about 1885-7 © The National Gallery, London This painting joined our collection in 1979 With our custom print service, you can order your own fully customised reproduction from the National Gallery Collection & exhibitions. Choose your own size, print material & frames & have your masterpiece delivered straight to your door. ...

This small panel is very close in style to two paintings by Rijckaert dated 1626 & is likely to be by him. It may have formed part of the decoration of a cabinet. It evokes the golden age of antiquity, & a growing taste for decorative landscape. ...

Procris gave her husband Cephalus a magic dog & a spear which had been given to her by Diana, the goddess of the hunt. She believed him to have been unfaithful to her & so hid when he approached, but Cephalus by mistake killed her with the spear (Ovid ...

The subject of this painting may be taken from the ' Argonautica' of Apollonius. The winged Zetes & Calais, the sons of Boreas, are shown chasing the harpies away from the blind Phineus, whose food had been defiled by the harpies. The companion piece to t ...

Patel's landscape shows the impact on Paris taste of classical landscapes arriving from Rome. It was painted shortly after the arrival in Paris of works by the neo-classical artist Claude, which belonged to the Duc de Bouillon. Patel probably never visi ...

In the background is the Massacre of the Innocents which was carried out by Herod's soldiers & from which the Holy Family had fled. In the left background is the Miracle of the Corn, according to which corn sprang up to deceive Herod's officers during t ...

For the subject see the ' Aeneid' (4: 119). Dido & Aeneas are in the cave at the right; in the sky at the left Juno, Venus & Hymen. The figures & the dogs are by the Roman painter, Carlo Maratta, & the landscape by Dughet. The picture was recorded in the Palazzo Falconieri, Rome, in 1717 where it remained until around 1800. ...

Tobias Tobias was sent to a distant city by his blind father Tobit to collect a debt. While carrying out his errand he was escorted by the Archangel Raphael. A fish tried to devour him in the river Tigris, but the angel told the boy to remove its heart, l ...

The subject is taken from the apocryphal Book of Tobit (6: 3), & shows the angel commanding Tobias to catch the fish which has attempted to attack him in the river Tigris. Subsequently Tobias uses its gall to cure the blindness of his father Tobit. This ...