Consolation of Ariadne

Burroughs, who was Head Curator at The Metropolitan Museum of Art from 1909 until shortly before his death, destroyed most of his early paintings in the first years of the twentieth century. His later works, such as this, often treated mythological subjects and were reminiscent in style of works by the French artist, Puvis de Chavannes. This is one of several pictures he painted that treated the theme of Ariadne, the mythological daughter of Minos, king of Crete. She was abandoned by her husband Theseus, whom she had aided in escaping the Cretan Labryinth in order to slay the Minotaur. Here, she responds to the advances of the young god, Dionysus, who seeks to ease her sorrow. The contemporary background is an identifiable view of Block Island, Rhode Island as it appeared at the time the picture was painted.