PD Image: Acis and Galatea (1629), painting by French classical painter Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665), located at the National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin.
Acis was the spirit of the Acis River in Sicily, beloved of the sea-nymph Galatea, who returned the love of Acis, but a jealous suitor, the Sicilian Cyclops Polyphemus, killed him with a boulder. Galatea then turned the blood of Acis into the River Acis. The Acis River flowed past Akion (Acium) near Mount Etna in Sicily.
Acis was the son of Faunus and the river-nymph Symaethis, daughter of the River Symaethus.
According to Athenaeus (200 BCE) the story was first concocted as a political satire against the Sicilian tyrant Dionysius I of Syracuse, whose favourite concubine, Galatea, shared her name with a nereid mentioned by Homer. Some others claim that the story of Galatea was invented to explain the presence of a shrine dedicated to Galatea on Mount Etna.
The tale of Acis and Galatea became very popular from the Renaissance period with many paintings on Acis and Galatea by artists such as Adam Elsheimer, Nicolas Poussin (National Gallery of Ireland) and Claude Lorrain (Dresden).
Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665) was a French painter in the classical style, acclaimed for his work predominantly featuring clarity, logic, and order, and his preference of line over color. Nicolas Poussin was a major inspiration for classical artists such as Jacques-Louis David, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres and Paul Cézanne.
