Ariadne Deserted by Theseus

Ariadne Deserted by Theseus, painted by Herbert James Draper around 1892 and held at the Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art, depicts the moment after Theseus abandons the Cretan princess Ariadne on the island of Naxos — one of the most poignant narrative moments in classical mythology. Ariadne had helped Theseus escape the Labyrinth by providing him with the thread that allowed him to navigate back out after killing the Minotaur; Theseus's subsequent abandonment of her was a byword in antiquity and Renaissance tradition for ingratitude and betrayal. The subject had been treated repeatedly in European painting from Titian's magnificent Bacchus and Ariadne (c. 1520–23) onward, and by Draper's time it was a well-established touchstone for depicting female grief and abandonment. MIMA (the Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art) holds this relatively early Draper as evidence of his engagement with classical subjects at the beginning of his mature career. The circa 1892 date places this painting in the period when Draper was establishing his reputation in the mythological genre.

The recumbent or watching figure of the abandoned Ariadne is set against the sea — suggesting both the departure of Theseus's ship and the arrival of Bacchus, her divine consolation. Draper's handling of the female figure in a coastal landscape demonstrates his early mastery of these compositional elements.