Jupiter and Antiope
1550/59
Medium
Engraving on ivory laid paper, edge-mounted to ivory laid paper
Dimensions
Image: 16.2 × 28.6 cm (6 7/16 × 11 5/16 in.); Sheet: 16.6 × 28.8 cm (6 9/16 × 11 3/8 in.); Secondary support: 25.2 × 36.7 cm (9 15/16 × 14 1/2 in.)
Classification
engraving
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
182410
Art Historical Context
René Boyvin's *Jupiter and Antiope created between 1550 and 1559, captures a seductive mythological moment from Ovid's *Metamorphoses*. Here, the king of the gods, Jupiter, disguises himself as a sat to woo the mortal Antiope, embodying the era's fascination with classical tales of divine passion and transformation. As a leading French engraver of the Mannerist period, Boyvin worked in the orbit of the Fontainebleau, translating the elegant, elongated figures and intricate compositions of Italian masters like Rosso Fiorentino into precise print form. This engraving on luxurious ivory laid pap...
About the Artist
René Boyvin · 1525–1580
French, Angers ca. 1525–1598 or 1625/6 Angers