Plate 136: Circe Changing Picus into a Bird (Circes concubitum detestatur Picus), from Ovid's 'Metamorphoses'
1606
Medium
Etching
Dimensions
Sheet: 4 in. × 4 9/16 in. (10.1 × 11.6 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1951
Accession Number
51.501.3987
Tags
Art Historical Context
Behold Plate 136 from Antonio Tempesta's masterful series of etchings illustrating Ovid's *Metamorph*, published in 1606. This intimate 4 x 4 9/16-inch print captures the dramatic moment when the enchantress Circe, enraged by Picus's rejection, transforms him into a birdlikely a woodpecker in Ovid's tale—amidst a whirlwind of mythological fury. Surrounding the scene are vivid depictions of birds and boars, evoking the wild, transformative magic of classical antiquity. Tempesta, a prolific Italian Baroque artist (1555–1630) renowned for his dynamic animal renderings and over 1,500 prints, drew ...
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...