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| Alexander Archipenko Turning Torso 1921-22 bronze Museum Folkwang, Essen |
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| Ottomar Anschütz Model throwing Javelin 1888 albumen print Graphische Sammlung Albertina, Vienna |
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| Antonio Balestra Two Classical Warriors ca. 1690 etching Hamburger Kunsthalle |
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| Michelangelo Cerquozzi Thief on the Cross ca. 1640 oil on slate Kunstmuseum Basel |
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| Wilhelm Tischbein Wounded Achilles 1818-19 watercolor and gouache on paper Hamburger Kunsthalle |
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| Adriaen van der Werff Adam and Eve rebuked by God 1717 oil on panel Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
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| Louis Tuaillon Sandal-Binder ca. 1900 bronze Hamburger Kunsthalle |
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| Roman Empire Youth with Phrygian Cap 2nd century AD marble Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen |
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| John Singer Sargent Figure Study ca. 1890-95 drawing National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne |
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| Walter Hirsch Untitled 2002 gelatin silver print Moderna Museet, Stockholm |
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| Anonymous Italian Artist Antique Statue of Apollo Sauroctonus (illustration to Winckelmann) 1767 etching Hamburger Kunsthalle |
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| Jules-Joseph Lefebvre Study for Chloé 1875 oil on panel Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha |
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| Maurice Henry Orpheus and Eurydice in the Metro ca. 1970 lithograph Musée des Beaux-Arts de Reims |
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| Lovis Corinth Figure Studies 1904 drawing National Museum, Warsaw |
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| Alessandro Allori Susanna and the Elders 1561 oil on canvas Musée Magnin, Dijon |
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| William Adolphe Bouguereau Return of Spring 1886 oil on canvas Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha |
As we were just going out the door, an evil omen befell: a hawk pursuing a swallow collided with Leucippe, striking her head with its wing. I was quite upset, and raising my eyes to heaven, said: "O Zeus, what are you trying to tell us by this sign? If you have really given us this bird as a warning, please send your message again in a still more perspicuous sign."
Then, turning around, I happened to face an artist's studio and saw a painting on display whose allusions could but confirm the ominous bird. It showed the rape of Philomela, Tereus attacking her, her tongue cut out. The plot of the drama was there in every detail – the robe, Tereus, the banquet. A maid was holding the unfolded robe: Philomela stood beside her and pointed to the pictures she had woven; Procne nodded that she understood; her eyes glowed fiercely and angrily at the picture. King Tereus of Thrace was embroidered there, wrestling Philomela to his lust; her hair had been torn, her waistband broken, her dress ripped open, one breast exposed; she planted her right hand against his eyes and with her left tried to hold the torn shreds of her garment across her breasts. Tereus held Philomela tightly in his arms, drawing her body as close as he could to his own and tightening his embrace on her flesh – so deftly the artist designed this figured weft. The rest of the icon showed the women showing Tereus his dinner – scraps in a basket – the head and hands of his infant son. They are laughing, at the same time terrified. Tereus is shown leaping up from his couch and drawing his sword against them. He plants one leg on the table, which is neither standing nor fallen, a picture of impending collapse.
– Achilles Tatius, from Leucippe and Clitophon (2nd century AD), translated from Greek by John J. Winkler (1989)