Who let the frogs out?
Kings and queens, historic battles, the trials of Noah, Jesus on the cross, the birth of Venus, the fall of Babylon, Latona turning the Lycian peasants into frogs …
I didn’t guess that the last one was on the list of Great Art Themes until Sotheby’s let me know it had a painting about it. Its made-you-look title makes you go look up the story. Fetch the ancient book, please.
And once again I’m a babe emerging from a dark room. There are several well-known depictions of Latona and her witchcraft. It’s not a forgotten chapter from Grimm’s fairytales after all.
The one atop the post and in details below is attributed to the Dutchman Nicolaas Verkolje (1673-1746), one of two sons who followed their busy dad into life’s studio.
Further investigation turns up a few juicy surprises — this is no stagnant pond of a story. “Real horror show,” as Alex put it in “A Clockwork Orange”.
We’re deep into Swamp Thing territory with this warts-and-all section of Greek and Roman mythology. Here’s the program:
Meet Leto (to the Greeks) or Latona (to the Romans), daughter of the Titans Coeus and Phoebe.
Incumbent god of all gods Zeus/Jupiter beds her, and she’s going to give birth to twins — these will be Apollo and Artemis/Diana. But where can Leto go to have her babies?
“Latona Turning the Lycian Peasants into Frogs”, 1730, by Johann Georg Platzer (Austrian, 1704-61)
Mrs Hera Zeus/Mrs Juno Jupiter is furious at her husband and naturally takes it out on Leto. She gets the serpent god, aptly named Python, to harass her, and has Terra, the Earth, arrange it so Leto has “neither resting place nor asylum” anywhere on this mortal orb.
Fortunately Poseidon/Neptune is a kind, wet soul, and he “raises a floating island” called Delos in the Aegean Sea for Latona, to which she flies in the form of a quail.
Yes, a quail. See the rest.
