Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History


    • The Rape of Ganymede, ca. 1500–1505
    Giulio Campagnola (Italian, Paduan, ca. 1482–after 1515)
    Engraving

    plate 6 5/8 x 4 3/4 in. (16.9 x 12 cm)
    Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1937 (37.3.10)

    The extreme youth of the boy depicted by Campagnola, together with his willing participation in the event, suggests that a Neoplatonic reading of the myth may be intended. Beginning with the moralized versions of the Metamorphoses in the fourteenth century, the ravishment came to be interpreted as the union of the soul with God.

    Campagnola was admired for his singing, lute playing, and knowledge of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew, as well as for his engravings.

    Related


    This work has been published in the Museum's Bulletin or Journal. These articles may or may not represent the most current scholarship.
  • Thompson, Wendy. "Poets, Lovers, and Heroes in Italian Mythological Prints." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 61, no. 3 (Winter, 2004).
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    The Rape of Ganymede, ca. 1500–1505
    Giulio Campagnola (Italian, Paduan, ca. 1482–after 1515)
    Engraving

    plate 6 5/8 x 4 3/4 in. (16.9 x 12 cm)
    Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1937 (37.3.10)


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