Metamorphoseon sive transformationum
1606
Medium
etching
Dimensions
117; 104
About this artwork
collector's mark: Lugt 240
Art Historical Context
Antonio Tempesta's *Metamorphoseon sive transformation* (1606) is a exquisite etching capturing the dramatic spirit of Ovid's ancient Roman poem *Metamorphoses*. This small-scale print, measuring just 104 mm high by 117 mm wide, belongs to Tempesta's renowned series of 150 etchings illustrating the poet's tales of mythological transformations—from gods and mortals morphing into animals, plants, and stars. As a leading Italian artist of the late 16th and early 17th centuries, Tempesta masterfully blended Mannerist elegance with emerging Baroque energy, making complex narratives accessible throu...
About the Artist
Antonio Tempesta · 1555–1630
Antonio Tempesta (1555–1630), known as 'Il Tempestino,' was a Florentine painter and printmaker whose extraordinary output of approximately 1,700 etchings made him one of the most influential printmakers of the early Baroque period. Born in Florence and trained under Santi di Tito and the Flemish master Joannes Stradanus, he enrolled in the Accademia del Disegno in 1576 before relocating to Rome i...