Titian: Love, Desire, Death, National Gallery

For the first time since 1704, the National Gallery are reuniting five of Titian's most extraordinary paintings. These epic works, which form a mythological series known as the poesie, illustrate stories from classical mythology, primarily inspired by Ovid's Metamorphoses. Ovid was a Roman poet, and, as the title suggests, his most famous poem details many magical transformations.

Titian was a Venetian, who lived from 1448 to 1576. He is considered one of the Renaissance greats, famed for his use of colour and ability to weave narratives into this work. His poesie paintings, so named because he felt they represented the visual equivalent to poetry, were commissioned by Phillip II of Spain, who gave the artist free rein to choose subjects from Ovid's masterpiece.

The paintings – currently held in collections in Spain, America and the UK – will be brought together for his exhibition to be viewed again as Titian intended. This will include his Danaë and Venus and Adonis, two works with monumental female figures at their centre. But if you can't wait until the spring, Bacchus and Ariadne – one of his early forays into the mythological genre – is permanently housed in the National Gallery.