Matthias Wivel’s “Titian: Love, Desire, Death” presents a detailed analysis of the series of “poesie” paintings Titian produced for King Philip II of Spain (between 1551 and 1562). Titian considered the works – based on Ovid’s “Metamorphoses” – to be the visual equivalent of poetry, a mode of painting he termed “poesie.” The complete collection – including “Danaë”, “Venus and Adonis”, “Perseus and Andromeda”, “Diana and Actaeon”, “The Death of Actaeon”, “Diana and Callisto”, and “The Rape of Europa” is presented in Wivel’s cohesive (and beautifully illustrated) study.