This companion to The Fable of Leda (P120), whose original version is at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, shows Jupiter transformed into an eagle to ravish young Ganymede. It is one of a series of four mythological scenes that Correggio painted for the Duke of Mantua who, in turn, gave them to Charles V. Mythological subject matter became especially popular among members of the Spanish court and aristocracy in the mid 17th century, and it also sparked a vast literary production on similar subjects. In the case of painting, this demand was met primarily by foreign painters, as Spanish artists were largely subject to moral pressures that impeded this kind of production.

El arte en la España del Quijote, Ciudad Real, Empresa Pública Don Quijote de la Mancha 2005, 2005, p.240, nº 56