Plate 18: Mercury Falling in love with Herse (Mercurius Herses amore accenditur), from Ovid's 'Metamorphoses'
1606
Medium
Etching
Dimensions
sheet: 12 13/16 x 20 1/2 in. (32.5 x 52 cm) plate: 4 1/8 x 4 3/4 in. (10.5 x 12 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
51.501.3869
Tags
Art Historical Context
Behold Plate 18 from Antonio Tempesta's captivating series of etchings illustrating Ovid's *Metamorphoses*, published in 1606. This scene depicts Mercury, the swift-footed messenger god, struck by love for Herse, one of the daughters of King Cecrops in ancient Greek myth. As recounted in Ovid's epic poem, Mercury descends from the heavens, his heart inflamed by the beautiful maiden amid a moment of divine vulnerability. Tempesta, a prolific Italian Mannerist artist (1555–1630), masterfully captures this pivotal episode, blending classical mythology with the dramatic flair of early 17th-century...
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...