Jupiter's consort, Juno is the mother of Vulcan and Mars and the protectress of marriage and childbirth. Her sacred bird is the peacock, often seen in paintings related to the goddess, such as Tintoretto's Origin of the Milky Way (c. 1570; London, National Gallery) where the infant Hercules suckles from her breast, the galaxy formed by the milk that drips from his mouth. The peacock is also included in Andrea Mantegna's ceiling in the Camera Picta at the Ducal Palace in Mantua (1465-1474), also known as the Camera degli Sposi (Room of the Married Couple), as reference to Juno's role as patroness of marriage. Juno persecutes the many loves of Jupiter to avenge his infidelity, and she is also ruthless toward the offspring resulting from these illicit affairs. In the Judgment of Paris, she is one of the goddesses in the contest, the scene Lucas Cranach the Elder depicted in 1530 (Karlsruhe, Staatliche Kunsthalle) and Peter Paul Rubens in 1602 (London, National Gallery).
Historical dictionary of Renaissance art. Lilian H. Zirpolo. 2008.