Venus and Adonis (Titian, Oxford)

Venus and Adonis is a c. 1560 painting by the Venetian artist Titian. It belongs to a private collection, and is on display in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, England.

Titian painted several versions of the mythological subject of Venus and Adonis, including one in the Prado, Madrid. Some have theorised that the painting in Oxford is the first version sent to Philip II of Spain in the 1550s, a painting which is known to have been damaged during transport. According to this hypothesis, the painting now in Oxford was returned to Venice, being replaced by the version now in Madrid.