Mythos is a project by Baptiste Lignel (FR) that examines the representation of gender-based violence in the history of Western art. Through photography, the project focuses on paintings and sculptures from the fifteenth to the eighteenth centuries depicting scenes of sexual violence from Greco-Roman mythology, in particular the narratives from Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Many of these works are celebrated masterpieces in museum collections and admired for their artistic excellence, yet the stories they portray raise pressing questions today about power, violence, and the ways these images have been presented and interpreted over the centuries.

For this project, 104 artworks were photographed in 27 museums across Europe. The photographs serve as the starting point for a broader reflection on the role of museums in exhibiting and contextualising works that depict gender-based violence. How do museum displays shape our perception of these images? In what historical contexts were these works created, and how have their meanings evolved over time? How can museums balance artistic appreciation with an awareness of the impact that violent imagery may have on contemporary audiences?

At a time when sexual violence and women’s rights are receiving increasing international attention, Mythos contributes to an urgent discussion about the place of these iconic artworks within our cultural institutions. By questioning how these founding myths, and the aesthetic traditions continue to shape our cultural imagination, the project invites reflection on the ways they may reinforce misogynistic narratives and contribute to a broader culture in which sexual violence is normalised or aestheticised. It explores the complex relationship between beauty and violence in art, encouraging readers to reconsider familiar masterpieces from a contemporary perspective while also highlighting how some museums have begun to provide additional context, for example through content warnings or interpretive texts.

The publication is complemented by essays from art historians and museum professionals who examine the mythological narratives depicted in the artworks, their historical contexts, and their contemporary relevance. Contributors include Silvia Giorgi (art historian and specialist in Medieval and Renaissance art), Anna Bisceglia (Curator of Fifteenth- and Sixteenth-Century Art, Gallerie degli Uffizi), Nat Silver (Associate Director and Chief Curator, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum), and Marie Robert (Chief Heritage Curator at the Musée d’Orsay and member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts). Together they reflect a broader ambition: to foster dialogue about the ways we interpret, exhibit, and engage with these enduring images today.