Physics, part of a set of allegories of the liberal arts and the sciences
Etienne Delaune French
After Marcantonio Raimondi Italian
After Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio or Santi) Italian
Not on view
Engraving, part of a series of six plates with allegories of three liberal arts and three sciences, personified by female figures surrounded by grotesque motifs. These allegories are endowed with attributes that somewhat correspond to the science or the art they evoke; the inner frame enclosing each scene is flanked by scrolling motifs of different types. This print represents Physics, personified by a woman walking towards the right of the print, holding a vase on her right hand and a plant on the left. The vase is usually an attribute of grammar; it seems as if Delaune has confused the attributes of this art with those of physics in this print.
The female figure personifying physics is on top of a sort of staircase, which is decorated with a vase on each step: the two closest to Physics with long, undulating branches with flowrrs and leaves, and the remaining four with scrolls of smoke. The latter might be symbols for the vanity of terrestrial things, while the vases with plants might be another representation of the attribute of grammar. Together, they symbolize the superiority of scieces over material things. The upper corners of the print contain two fantastical birds, likely pheonixes, symbols of eternity and resurrection, possibly also adding a metaphysical character to the science, and situating physics beyond the realm of frivolous contingencies. The representations of a snail and a butterlfly, on either side beyond the phoenix, are symbols for the opposing ideas of slowness and fastness, possibly making an allusion to the degrees of knowledge. On the bottom part of the print are two dogs and two large syringes, framing a mortar, possibly illustrating the scientific nature of physics.
The female figure representing Physics in this print is closely related to a representation of Justice in a print by Marcantonio Raimondi after Raphael. Unlike this print, however, the woman in that representation holds a balance on her left hand and a sword on the right.
