Neptune Seated Blowing a Conch Shell
Medium
Engraving
Dimensions
plate: 9 3/16 x 6 3/8 in. (23.4 x 16.2 cm) platemark sheet: 16 1/16 x 10 7/8 in. (40.8 x 27.6 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1926
Accession Number
26.50.1(78)
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the grand tradition of Renaissance printmaking, *Neptune Seated B a Conch Shell* the mighty Roman god of the sea in a poised, muscular pose, his cheeks puffed as he sounds his conch-shell trumpet. Attributed to engravers Giorgio Ghisi andino del Vaga ( known as Pietro Buonacc), or an anonymous 16th-century artist, this work exemplifies the era's fascination with classical mythology. Produced in Italy during a time when humanism revived ancient gods, Neptune symbolizes the untamed power of the oceans, often depicted wielding the conch to summon storms or command marine creatures. Engraving,...
About the Artist
Giorgio Ghisi|Perino del Vaga (Pietro Buonaccorsi)|Anonymous, 16th century · 1520–1582
Giorgio Ghisi (c. 1520–1582) was one of the most accomplished engravers of the Italian Renaissance, renowned for translating the monumental compositions of Raphael, Giulio Romano, and Michelangelo into the exacting medium of the burin. Born in Mantua, he trained in an environment shaped by the legacy of Giulio Romano's decoration of the Palazzo del Te, and the grandeur of that Mannerist tradition ...