Jupiter and Io

In Ovid's Metamorphoses, Jupiter turned himself into a cloud to hide his affair with Io from his jealous wife Juno. Correggio painted the moment of contact. Io is in ecstasy. The cloud presses against her cheek. And barely visible inside the vapour — a face, an arm, the god himself. It is one of the most sensual paintings ever made, and it was commissioned by Duke Federico II Gonzaga as a private erotic decoration for his chambers. Now at Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna @kunsthistorischesmuseumvienna