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Atalanta and Hippomenes, Guido Reni, 1615-1625 ,

206 × 297 cm ,

Galleria Nazionale di Capodimonte , Naples, Italy

A less well-known rendering of the scene is by Guido Reni, in a picture in the Naples Museum. In this, the background is so dark that one loses thought of the multitude. The two figures are alone, and occupy the whole canvas. The incident is the same as that selected by Poynter, Atalanta stoops to reach the apple, and in that instant Hippomenes darts by, and wins the race. A spirited scene, in both cases : there is more thought in the painting by Poynter, but Guido Reni, too, has put much skill, action, and beauty, into his figures, although the flying scarfs with which they are draped are the very last sort of handicap which Greeks would have permitted in a contest of speed! Julia de Wolf Addison