André Masson and the myth of Pyramus and Thisbe

André Masson and the myth of Pyramus and Thisbe

The legend of Pyramus and Thisbe, from Greek and Roman mythology, tells the tragic story of two Babylonian lovers whose families were at odds with each other.

The story, first recorded in writing in fables 242 and 243 of the Fabulae of Hyginus and more extensively by Ovid in Metamorphoses Book VI, has been retold many times over the centuries. The most recognised retelling today is undoubtedly Shakespeare’s story of Romeo and Juliet, written in 1595.

In the legend, Pyramus and Thisbe were two young people who were forbidden to speak to each other, much less love each other given their families’ rivalry, but they still did so in secret. One night they agreed to escape from their homes and meet next to a white mulberry tree, with a plan to run away and start a life together.

When the time came, Thisbe arrived first at the meeting place. On arriving she saw a lioness approaching, causing her to flee and hide in the trees, leaving her scarf behind. The lioness, who had come from hunting and had a full belly, was content to just play with the young girl’s scarf, tearing it and staining it with the blood of her prey. When Pyramus arrived he found only the torn scarf and immediately assumed that the lioness had killed his beloved Thisbe. He took out his dagger and stabbed himself in the chest, ending his own life. Pyramus’s blood dyed the mulberry fruits purple, and when Thisbe returned she believed she was in the wrong place. She finally found her lover lying dead next to the tree, so took the same dagger and, as distraught as Pyramus when believing her dead, stabbed herself in the chest.

The gods, saddened and moved by the story, made both families cremate the bodies and keep the lovers’ ashes together. From that day on, the fruits of the mulberry tree were always purple.

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  "Amants celebres ""Pyramus et Thysbe""", 1979

  André Masson

  Aquatint on paper

  50 x 65

Silvia Sánchez Ruiz
Curator