Contest between Athena and Poseidon
Medium
Etching
Dimensions
Sheet (trimmed): 10 5/16 × 16 1/8 in. (26.2 × 41 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1949
Accession Number
49.97.589
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the electrifying etching *Contest between Athena and Poseidon (1540–45), Italian Mannerist artist Rosso Fiorentino's dynamic design springs to life through the precise hand of engraver Antonio Fantuzzi. print captures a pivotal Greek myth: the divine rivalry for patronage of Athens, where Athenagoddess of wisdom) triumphs over Poseidon (god of the sea, here as Neptune) with her gift of the olive tree, while he strikes the earth with his trident, summoning a saltwater spring and rearing horses. The composition bursts with muscular male nudes, twisting figures, and dramatic tension—hallmarks ...