Wednesday, 7 October 2026

The Myth of Niobe in Abraham Bloemaert's Painting of 1591 in Copenhagen

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The Myth of Niobe in Abraham Bloemaert's Painting of 1591 in Copenhagen

Apollo and Diana Punishing Niobe by Slaying Her Children.

Abraham Bloemaert, 1591. National Gallery of Denmark, Copenhagen.

The myth of Niobe and her children is one of the most familiar tragic subjects of classical art. Niobe grew proud of her beautiful and numerous children, twelve or twenty in number, and compared her offspring with those of the goddess Leto, for which the latter ordered her own children, Apollo and Artemis, to kill the children of Niobe.

Having lost her children, Niobe turned to stone, from which tears flow without ceasing

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