Envy or Avarice at the right being driven from the temple of the Muses by Hercules who raises a club, the muses watching from the left
Medium
Engraving
Dimensions
Sheet: 10 1/16 × 7 1/16 in. (25.6 × 18 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1917
Accession Number
17.3.1012
Tags
Art Historical Context
This striking Renaissance engraving, titled *Envy or Avarice at the right being driven the temple of the M by Hercules who raises a club, the muses watching from the left captures a dramatic mythological moment from around 1530–60. Hercules, the heroic protector of virtue, wields his club to expel the vice of Envy (or Avarice) from the sacred temple of theuses—goddesses of the arts and inspiration—who observe approvingly from the left.ude female figures and weapons heighten the tension, symbolizing the triumph of creativity over destructive jealousy in classical lore. Attributed to a collabor...
About the Artist
Master of the Die|Ugo da Carpi|Philippe Thomassin|Baldassare Tommaso Peruzzi · 1525–1560
**Master of the Die** (fl. 1525–1560) was an anonymous Italian engraver and printmaker active primarily in Rome during the mid-16th century. Named for the distinctive small die he used to sign his prints—a tiny emblematic mark that became his moniker—this elusive artist remains unidentified despite scholarly proposals linking him to figures like Benedetto Verino, Giovanni Francesco Zabello, Tommas...