1943, Professor Pasquale Rotondi, Central Inspector for the General Direction of the Arts, put it under his bed to hide it from German troops. Cultural references and reception This was Lord Byron's favorite painting because the ambiguity of both its subject matter and symbolism allowed viewers to make up their own tale. Jan Morris wrote that the picture changed the way she looked at painting. She was fascinated with the subject and "its sense of permanently suspended enigma", and calls it a "haunted picture", inhabited by the actual presence of the artist. Czech poet Ladislav Novák wrote a poem called Giorgione's Tempest where Meister Eckhart explains its symbolism in a wealthy man's study. According to him, the man is a shepherd who represents Giorgione and the lady is a woman the painter loves, without hoping his love will be requited. In Mark Helprin's 1991 novel A Soldier of the Great War the protagonist claims the painting as his favorite and it plays a central role in the plot. It is viewed by the main characters who visit the painting in Venice and is referred to several times throughout the novel. In Geoff Dyer's 2009 novel Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi, the protagonist, Jeff Atman, visits the Gallerie dell'Accademia specifically to view the painting, having read a description of it in Mary McCarthy's Venice Observed. In The Wake by Neil Gaiman, the painting is depicted hanging in the dining room of the Dream King. References External links 1508 paintings Paintings by Giorgione Paintings in the Gallerie dell'Accademia Paintings of children