Wendy Thompson
Department of Drawings and Prints, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
October 2004
In the investigation and revival of classical antiquity that characterized the Italian Renaissance, the new technology of printmaking—which allowed hundreds of images to be generated from a single matrix of carved wood or incised metal—played an important role. Mantegna and Raphael were among those who employed prints to circulate novel designs derived from their study of ancient art and literature, spreading enthusiasm for mythological subject matter throughout Europe. For more than three centuries, the medium provided artists such as Agostino Carracci, Salvator Rosa, and Giambattista Tiepolo with an ideal forum, free from the constraints of official commissions, for exploring the subjects that intrigued them—from erudite allegories couched in the language of mythology to evocative pastorals inhabited by satyrs and bacchants. While many artists collaborated with professional printmakers, some learned to make their own engravings, etchings, and woodcuts. In addition, mythological designs in other media, particularly frescoes and oil paintings, were recorded in prints that fueled the fascination with pagan antiquity into the early 1800s.
The preferred mythological themes of Italian printmakers, drawn from the works of Greek and Latin poets (especially Latin—hence the bias here toward the Roman names of the gods), were those that were relevant to everyday life. The prints are grouped into three broad categories: the gods as patrons of the arts (Poets); the power of love (Lovers); and the deeds of the exemplary heroes of antiquity (Heroes). As in Ovid’s Metamorphoses—the classical text most frequently consulted by artists—the narrative begins with the early days of the earth and concludes with the legendary history of Rome.
Citation
Thompson, Wendy. “Poets, Lovers, and Heroes in Italian Mythological Prints.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/mypr/hd_mypr.htm (October 2004)
Further Reading
Freedman, Luba. The Revival of the Olympian Gods in Renaissance Art. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003.
Thompson, Wendy. Poets, Lovers, and Heroes in Italian Mythological Prints. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2004. See on MetPublications
Additional Essays by Wendy Thompson
- Thompson, Wendy. “The Printed Image in the West: Drypoint.” (October 2003)
- Thompson, Wendy. “Poets in Italian Mythological Prints.” (October 2004)
- Thompson, Wendy. “The Printed Image in the West: Etching.” (October 2003)
- Thompson, Wendy. “Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720–1778).” (October 2003)
- Thompson, Wendy. “Woodcut Book Illustration in Renaissance Italy: Florence in the 1490s.” (October 2004)
- Thompson, Wendy. “Woodcut Book Illustration in Renaissance Italy: The First Illustrated Books.” (October 2004)
- Thompson, Wendy. “Woodcut Book Illustration in Renaissance Italy: Venice in the 1490s.” (October 2004)
- Thompson, Wendy. “Woodcut Book Illustration in Renaissance Italy: Venice in the Sixteenth Century.” (October 2004)
- Thompson, Wendy. “Heroes in Italian Mythological Prints.” (October 2004)
- Thompson, Wendy. “The Printed Image in the West: Engraving.” (October 2003)
- Thompson, Wendy. “Lovers in Italian Mythological Prints.” (October 2004)
- Thompson, Wendy. “The Printed Image in the West: History and Techniques.” (October 2003)
- Thompson, Wendy. “The Printed Image in the West: Woodcut.” (October 2003)
Related Essays
- Heroes in Italian Mythological Prints
- Lovers in Italian Mythological Prints
- Poets in Italian Mythological Prints
- The Printed Image in the West: Engraving
- The Printed Image in the West: History and Techniques
- Annibale Carracci (1560–1609)
- Art and Love in the Italian Renaissance
- Art of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries in Naples
- Baroque Rome
- Classical Antiquity in the Middle Ages
- Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1696–1770)
- Greek Gods and Religious Practices
- The Labors of Herakles
- Music in Ancient Greece
- Nicolas Poussin (1594–1665)
- The Nude in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance
- Paolo Veronese (1528–1588)
- The Printed Image in the West: Drypoint
- The Printed Image in the West: Etching
- The Printed Image in the West: Woodcut
- Profane Love and Erotic Art in the Italian Renaissance
- Renaissance Drawings: Material and Function
- Woodcut Book Illustration in Renaissance Italy: Florence in the 1490s
- Woodcut Book Illustration in Renaissance Italy: Venice in the 1490s
- Woodcut Book Illustration in Renaissance Italy: Venice in the Sixteenth Century
Chronology
Keywords
- 17th Century A.D.
- 18th Century A.D.
- Aeneas
- Allegory
- Ancient Roman Art
- Apollo
- Artemis / Diana
- Baroque Art
- Engraving
- Eros / Cupid
- Etching
- Europe
- Herakles / Hercules
- High Renaissance
- Italian Literature / Poetry
- Italy
- Literature / Poetry
- Love
- Mythology
- Ovid’s Metamorphoses
- Printmaking
- Psyche
- Renaissance Art
- Rococo
- Rome
- Satyr / Faun
- Silenus
- Woodcut
- Zeus / Jupiter