Crispijn van de Passe the Elder, a Dutch engraver, illustrated his interpretation of Ovid’s “Iphis and Ianthe” in 1602. Drawn in pen and blue ink, de Passe captures three scenes from the homosexual love story. Beginning with the center scene, the image’s description states: “Iphis and Ianthe kneeling side by side.” The figure on the left has shorter hair and is wearing a cloak, so the viewer can assume that that is Iphis. In Ovid’s original version of the story, this interaction does not occur. Rather than the two lovers praying side by side, Iphis and her mother Telethusa pray before the temple of Isis, in hopes that Iphis will transform into a man. The scene in Ovid’s telling is filled with a sense of desperation, so although de Passe’s sketch is inaccurate, the lifted hands and open mouths of the two figures convey a similar mood. In the right scene, a figure is seen standing behind a plume of smoke. The description states: “Iphis’s mother Telethusa sacrifices to Isis, who had encouraged her to bring up her daughter as a boy.” On Telethusa’s lower left side, de Passe sketched two animal heads directly above each other. Perhaps Telethusa used these two animals as sacrifices. In Ovid’s original telling, Telethusa does make a sacrifice before the temple of Isis, yet it is of Iphis’s hair ribbons. Iphis also accompanies her mother to the temple. de Passe’s sketch stresses the importance of the goddess Isis, as did Ovid in his telling of the story. Personally, I would have liked to see a scene in de Passe's work depicting when Isis appeared to Telethusa during her pregnancy. Finally, the two figures on the left scene are labeled as: “Iphis kneels before Ianthe at the food of the bed of Ligdus.” This scene does not take place in Ovid’s telling, so I believe either de Passe wished that this had happened or that he misinterpreted Ovid’s text. Iphis, the figure on the right, looks like he has already been transformed into a man. He has a defined chin with a beard, and his hair is cut in a masculine way. Ianthe, the figure on the left, is turning away, which seems odd as the two, in Ovid’s telling, are deeply in love with each other. When I first saw this sketch, I thought that the scene on the left is a flashback to when Telethusa is pregnant. In Ovid’s story, Ligdus tells Telethusa to abort the child if it is a girl, but Telethusa does not want to. Thus, I thought that Telethusa was the figure on the left, turning away from her begging husband. In de Passe’s interpretation of Ovid’s text, perhaps he wanted to continue where Ovid left off, and have Iphis propose to Ianthe. Overall, de Passe’s interpretation of Ovid’s telling is a bit like modern day fan fiction. I believe that de Passe was a fan of Ovid’s work and wanted to continue, or in his eyes improvise, the story. Throughout his lifetime, de Passe sketched 141 drawings inspired by Ovid’s Metamorphoses. de Passe’s work was among the first of King George III’s collection of prints and drawings that were kept in Buckingham Palace. The work is housed there today.