Abstract
In El. II, 12 Propertius draws a parallel between two ecphraseis. The commentary of a painting representing Love is followed by a brief picture of the mistress’ beauty, which is a metaphor for elegiac poetics: a metapoetic statement emerges from aesthetical theory. This article’s aim is to read two Ovidian ecphraseis from Met. X in connection with this Propertian model: the descriptions of the child Adonis, compared to the Amores picti, and of the ivory girl loved by the artist Pygmalion, just as the Propertian scripta puella is created by her lover’s art. I will show how the intertextual dialogue at play allows Ovid to challenge his predecessor’s views on aesthetical issues and literary heritage.
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