Andy Warhol, Botticelli’s Venus, from details of Renaissance paintings, 1984 (left). Botticelli, The Birth of Venus (detail; right). We have juxtaposed detail from Botticelli’s Venus with a modern version of the image. There is no need to prefer one rendering over the other: the meaning of each imageis different. Each artist presents an artistic response to mythology. In this book, we are dedicated to demonstrating the effect of mythology on modern as well as traditional sensibilities.

Marc Chagall, The Creation of Man, 1956–1958. Marc Chagall’s 20th-c. painting captures a modern vision of the mystery and drama of creation. For more on creation stories, see Part 2, p. 25.

Genesis Frontispiece Depicting the Creation. This 16th-c. illustration shows the artist’s vision of the world as it was being created. Compare with Chagall on p. 4.

Alligator, the 1980 horror movie by John Sayles, represents one instance of the urban legend about alligators in the sewers.

Samuel Narh Nartey, Nokia Cell Phone Coffin. 2007. Since the mid-1950’s, fantasy coffins have been used in Ghana to tell a story about a person’s life. The shape of this coffin, produced for gallery use, reflects the importance of cell phone communication throughout Africa. Compare the “wallpaper” of the screen with Michelangelo’s painting on the Sistine Chapel ceiling, p. 58.

William Blake, The Judgment of Paris, 1811.