Apollo Abusing Leucothoe

This engraving portrays a scene from Ovid’s Metamorphoses set within a lavishly appointed chamber featuring a coffered ceiling and a canopy bed. Apollo has gained entry to the princess's private quarters to seduce her, while a figure—likely the jealous Clytie—watches from a distant doorway. The composition uses high-contrast light to emphasize the divine presence of the sun god in a terrestrial interior.

As part of Goltzius's influential series on Ovid, this work illustrates the Renaissance practice of using classical mythology to encode natural and planetary allegories. The story of Leucothoe, who is eventually transformed into a frankincense tree, provided a mythological framework for natural philosophers studying the origins of aromatic resins and the influence of the sun on botanical life.