Painting: by Laurent Pêcheux
Pygmalion was a great sculptor in CyprusHe was a dedicated bachelor and declared he would never fall in love. Around that time, he was working hard on a sculpture of a young woman, and it came out so beautiful and lifelike, that Pygmalion fell in love with it. Ashamed to admit it, once Aphrodite's festival came about, Pygmalion made offerings and asked of the goddess that he meet a woman as beautiful as his sculpture.
When he returned home, he kissed his sculpture with a sigh. To his surprise, he found that the ivory had become warm! He kissed the sculpture again, and it turned into a living, breathing woman, named Galatea. He married her and lived happily with her.
