Plate 98: The Metamorphosis of Adonis (Apri dente Adonis interimitur), from Ovid's 'Metamorphoses'
1606
Medium
Etching
Dimensions
Sheet: 4 1/16 × 4 9/16 in. (10.3 × 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
51.501.3934
Tags
Art Historical Context
Behold Plate 98 from Antonio Tempesta's masterful 1606 series of etchings illustrating Ovid's *Metamorphoses*, titled *The Metamorphosis of Adonis (Apri dente Adonis interimitur)*. This intimate print, measuring just over 4 inches square, captures a pivotal moment in classical mythology: the tragic death of the handsome youth Adonis, slain by a boar's tusk during a hunt. Tempesta, a prolific Italian Mannerist artist (1555–1630), was renowned for his dynamic depictions of animals and mythological drama, making him an ideal interpreter of Ovid's transformative tales. Etching's fine lines allowe...
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...