Titian painted for Philip II several mythological scenes and allegories with strong erotic elements. In his letters to Philip, Titian described these works as 'poesie' and 'favole', vague terms that can be roughly translated as 'poetic inventions' and 'fables', respectively. The terms have several implications: that the pictures had a literary source, that painting and poetry made the same creative demands, and that the artist - like the poet - was entitled to a certain license in the interpretation of his sources. The subjects of these pantheistic works are drawn chiefly from Ovid's Metamorphoses.

The first of the poesie sent to Philip in 1554, Danaë with a Nurse, was a more explicitly sensual version of the Danaë in Naples (1544). Its pendant, Venus and Adonis, was dispatched to the king in London in 1554 at the time of his wedding. Titian also mentioned in his letter two accompanying paintings, Perseus and Andromeda, and Jason and Medea, however, the latter was planned but never completed.

Two of Titian's best-loved poesie are Diana and Acteon, and Diana and Callisto, sent to Spain late in 1559 and today in Edinburgh. In their variety of pose, iridescent sensuality and rich colorism on a limited palette, they set an example to generations of artists from Rubens and Velázquez to Watteau and Delacroix.

In the years following the execution of the two celebrated mythological paintings, the Diana and Callisto, and the Diana and Actaeon, Titian painted other mythological paintings for Philip II, including the Rape of Europa (Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston), the Death of Actaeon (National Gallery, London), and Perseus and Andromeda (Wallace Collection, London). The best preserved of the poesie and the finest Titian in America is the Rape of Europa, sent to Spain in 1562.

Titian's connection with Philip II continued right up to the painter's final days. Amongst the last pictures sent to Spain was the Tarquin and Lucretia, now in Cambridge.

Preview	Picture Data	Info
	Danaë with a Nurse 1553-54 Oil on canvas, 129 x 180 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid
	Danaë with a Nurse (detail) 1553-54 Oil on canvas Museo del Prado, Madrid
	Venus and Adonis 1554 Oil on canvas, 180 x 207 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid
	Venus and Adonis (detail) 1554 Oil on canvas Museo del Prado, Madrid
	Venus and Adonis (detail) 1554 Oil on canvas Museo del Prado, Madrid
	Diana and Actaeon 1556-59 Oil on canvas, 185 x 202 cm National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh
	Diana and Actaeon (detail) 1556-59 Oil on canvas National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh
	Diana and Callisto 1556-59 Oil on canvas, 187 x 205 cm National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh
	Diana and Callisto (detail) 1556-59 Oil on canvas National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh
	Diana and Callisto (detail) 1556-59 Oil on canvas National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh
	Diana and Callisto 1560-65 Oil on canvas, 183 x 200 cm Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
	Rape of Europa 1559-62 Oil on canvas, 185 x 205 cm Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
	Death of Actaeon 1562 Oil on canvas, 179 x 189 cm National Gallery, London
	Perseus and Andromeda 1554-56 Oil on canvas, 185 x 199 cm Wallace Collection, London
	Tarquin and Lucretia 1568-71 Oil on canvas, 189 x 145 cm Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge
	Tarquin and Lucretia 1570s Oil on canvas Musée des Beaux-Arts, Bordeaux
	Tarquin and Lucretia 1570-76 Oil on canvas, 114 x 100 cm Akademie der bildenden Künste, Vienna