WaPo had a fun little article on the re-identification of a myth in a 17th century French painting – a story involving Queen Elizabeth the II and a soviet spy.
While the painting is currently identified in the Museum as “The Birth of Venus” (based on the identification by the man who was the spy), the argument is that it is actually the marriage of Poseidon (left) and Amphitrite (center). And the symbolic significance of depicting this:
“The marriage and journey of Neptune and Amphitrite across the sea,” writes art historian Troy Thomas, “symbolize the transition from this life to the next.” Poussin painted a celebration of marriage that also expresses, he continues, the “fragility of human existence and, with death, immortality and eternal joy.”
Ramblings 
