Sinon Deceiving the Trojans
mid-1540's
Medium
Engraving; fourth state of five
Dimensions
Sheet (Trimmed): 14 1/4 × 18 11/16 in. (36.2 × 47.5 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1953
Accession Number
53.601.30
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the mid-1540s, Italian engravers Giorgio Ghisi and Giovanni Battistaultori collaborated on *Sinon Deceiving the*, a dramatic engraving capturing a pivotal moment from Virgil's *Aeneid*. The depicts the Greek spy Sinon persuasively tricking the Trojans into accepting the wooden horse as a sacred offering, sealing Troy's fate in the legendary Trojan War. This fourth state of five reflects the meticulous evolution of printmaking, where subtle changes in lines and shading enhanced depth and narrative clarity across editions. Engravings like this one were revolutionary in the Renaissance, allow...
About the Artist
Giorgio Ghisi|Giovanni Battista Scultori · 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 ...