A 17TH CENTURY FLEMISH MYTHOLOGICAL TAPESTRY DEPICTING VENUS AND ADONIS Venus reaching for Adonis and entreating him not to leave, within a wooded landscape with numerous trees, on later backing, reduced, 210cm high x 192cm wide The tale of Venus and Adonis comes from Ovid's Metamorphoses and tells of Venus, the goddess of Love, and her unrequited love for Adonis who would rather go hunting then spend his time with her. In 1593 Shakespeare wrote his own poem based on that by Ovid, which contains discourses on the nature of love and nature itself, so it is fitting that they are here depicted in a thick forest.