OVID, Publius; SPRENG, Johannes.

by Publius; SPRENG, Johannes Ovid

£2,250 · Offered by Sokol Books

.A finely adapted version of Ovid s Metamorphoses in images, accompanied by a prose ekphrasis, followed by Latin verse distichs, closely based on the Ovidian texts with a verse commentary, by Johannes Spreng, a translator and notary from Augsburg, who worked on a variety of Classics, including the Iliad and Aeneid, translating them into German verse.. . ..Completed around 8AD, and often hailed as Ovid s magnum opus, the original text serves as a poetic encyclopaedia of over 250 myths, beginning with the creation of the world and concluding with the deification of Julius Caesar, over 15 books. Although an abridgement, this version remains faithful to the original, and is no less complete. The Metamorphoses remain the authoritative text for most historical reception of the Classical myths in literature and art. . . ..This edition is dedicated to two members of the Habsburg family, Archdukes Rudolf (1552-1612) and Ernest (1553-1595). .of Austria, sons of Maximilian II (1527-1576), whom Rudolf later succeeded as Holy Roman Emperor. The Habsburgs were known patrons of the arts, Philip II of Spain commissioned the painter Titian to create a series of artworks and was given complete creative freedom. He drew upon Ovid s Metamorphoses, producing paintings between 1551-1562, known as his poesie, representing the stories of Europa, Diana and Actaeon, Dana_, Venus and Adonis, Callisto, and Perseus and Andromeda. A Habsburg interest in the classical myths seems to emerge, the first editi

• Binding: Hardcover

Found via Rare Books Intel, a search across rare-book dealers, auction houses and marketplaces worldwide.