Metamorphoseon sive transformationum

About this artwork

height 104 mm x width 117 mm

Art Historical Context

Antonio Tempesta's *Metamorphoseon s transformationum* (1606) is a exquisite etching capturing the spirit of classical mythology. Measuring just 104 mm high by 117 mm wide, this intimate print is part of the Italian artist's renowned series illustrating Ovid's *Metamorph*, a foundational Roman epic recounting tales of divine transformations—from humans into animals and plants to cosmic upheavals. Tempesta, a masterful Mannerist engraver active in Rome during the late Renaissance, drew inspiration from ancient texts to bridge pagan lore with early Baroque sensibilities, making mythology accessi...

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...