The artist Pygmalion has, naturally enough, been a great source of inspiration for artists over the years. In this painting by Sir Edward Burne-Jones you see an especially fantastic moment in the story, when the goddess Venus, on the left, brings Pygmalion's statue to life, on the right. This is just one in a series of paintings which Burne-Jones devoted to the Pygmalion story; this particular painting is called "The Godhead Fires." You can read a brief essay about the four paintings in Burne-Jones' Pygmalion series at The Victorian Web.
The first painting in the series is called "The Heart Desires."
The second painting is "The Hand Refrains."
The third painting is today's image, "The Godhead Fires."
The final painting in the series is "The Soul Attains."
You can also find more myths and legends for the week of January 1-7 here. For more information and links to the actual javascript code, see the Myths & Legends Widget Reference Page.
