Juno, copy from a suite of ornament designs with grotesques and deities
After Etienne Delaune French
Not on view
Engraving, reversed copy after a series of six oval plates with ornament designs with grotesque motifs and divinities, designed by Étienne Delaune before 1559. This print represents Juno, standing on a canopy above which hangs an oil lamp flanked by scrolls of smoke, in the center of the oval, with her head turned to the right. She holds a cane with her left hand, around which scrolls a snake. Behind her, on the left, is a peacock, one of the most common attributes of June. On either side is a winged grotesque figure, with monkey head, holding a rosary and, under them, are two more peacocks. The serpent scrolling around an arrow is an attribute of Prudency, making its inclusion in this representation of Juno quite unusual; it is likely that this print aims to associate the goddess with Catherine de Medici,who was often linked to Prudency at the time.