Editing Metamorphoses (section)

==== Illustrations ====
The 1557 edition published by [[Jean de Tournes]] features 178 engravings by [[Bernard Salomon]] accompanying Ovid's text.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lejeune |first=Maud |title=Gravures et dessins de Bernard Salomon, peintre à Lyon au XVIe siècle |date=2021 |publisher=Droz |isbn=978-2-600-06277-0 |series=Cahiers d'humanisme et Renaissance |location=Genève}}</ref> The format is emblematic of the collaboration between Tournes and Salomon, which has existed since their association in the mid-1540s: the pages are developed centred around a title, an engraving with an octosyllabic stanza and a neat border.

The 178 engravings were not made all at once for the full text, but originate from a reissue of the first two books in 1549. In 1546, Jean de Tournes published a first, non-illustrated version of the first two books of the ''Metamorphoses'', for which Bernard Salomon prepared twenty-two initial engravings. Salomon examined several earlier illustrated editions of the ''Metamorphoses'' before working on his engravings, which nevertheless display a remarkable originality.

In the book ''Bernard Salomon. Illustrateur lyonnais'', [[Peter Sharratt]] states that the plates in this edition, along with that of the ''Bible'' illustrated by the painter in 1557, are Salomon's works that most emphasise the illustrative process based on "a mixture of memories".<ref name=":0" /> Among the earlier editions consulted by Salomon, one in particular stands out: ''Metamorphoseos Vulgare'',<ref>{{cite web|url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k71497z?rk=21459;2|title=Metamorphoseos vulgare |website=gallica.bnf.fr|date=1497 }}</ref> published in Venice in 1497. The latter shows similarities in the composition of some episodes, such as the 'Creation of the World' and '[[Apollo and Daphne]]'. In drawing his figures, Salomon also used Bellifontaine's canon, which testifies to his early years as a painter. Among other works, he created some frescoes in Lyon, for which he drew inspiration from his recent work in [[Palace of Fontainebleau|Fontainebleau]].

Better known in his lifetime for his work as a painter, Salomon's work in ''La Métamorphose d'Ovide figurée'' nevertheless left a mark on his contemporaries. These illustrations contributed to the celebration of the Ovidian texts in their hedonistic dimension. In this respect, [[Erwin Panofsky|Panofsky]] speaks of "extraordinarily influential woodcuts"<ref>{{Cite book |last=Panofsky |first=Erwin |title=Problems in Titian mostly iconographic |date=1969 |publisher=Phaidon [u.a.] |isbn=978-0-7148-1325-7 |series=The Wrightsman lectures |location=London}}</ref> and the American art historian Rensselaer W. Lee describes the work as "a major event in the history of art".<ref name=":0" />

In the [[Musée des Beaux-arts et des fabrics]] in Lyon, it is possible to observe wooden panels reproducing the model of Salomon's engravings for Ovid's ''Metamorphoses'' of 1557.