Citation link:
https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/duerer_society1898/0011
ENGRAVINGS.
IX./
School of Andrea Mantegna.
Portraits of Ludovico Gonzaga (1414-1478), Second {Marquis of {Mantua, and bis wife “Barbara of
HohenpoUern, daughter of John, Elector of Brandenburg. Facsimile from the orignal engraving
(4% x 6^in.) in the British Museum.
LTHOUGH this engraving has not the spontaneity and vigour of Mantegna’s
own work with the burin, it is, no doubt, from a picture by him and
engraved by an artist trained in his school. A picture representing the same
two persons, and greatly resembling this print, was formerly in the Hamilton
collection and is now in the Cernuschi collection at Paris. It is seriously
damaged, and probably not by the hand of Mantegna himself. The Marquis and his wife may
be seen in plainer costume, but with the same head-dress, in the frescoes of the Gonzaga family by
Mantegna, finished in 1474, in the Castello Vecchio at Mantua.
A. Durer. Hercules, Jealousy, or the Great Satyr, b. 73.
Facsimile by the Imperial Press, Berlin, from the impression in the ‘Berlin
Cabinet, formerly in the
St. Aubyn Collection. (12V x 8^in.)
This engraving belongs to a group of subjects, engraved about 1497-1^00, which show
Durer strongly under the influence of the antique. The subject most nearly allied to this is the
“ Meerwunder,” or “ Rape of Amymone.”
We know too little of the literary sources from which German humanists drew their
notions of antique myths at the beginning of the Renaissance, to explain all the details which
appear grotesquely incongruous with classical tradition.
The meaning of this design especially remains obscure, in spite of the many attempts which
have been made to elucidate it. “The Great Satyr” is a title which explains nothing, and merely
serves to distinguish it from the small “ Satyr Family.” Vasari describes it as “ Diana inflicting
punishment on one of her nymphs, who is flying for shelter to the bosom of a satyr.” He adds
that Durer’s real motive was to show his mastery of the nude, which is true enough as far as it
8
IX./
School of Andrea Mantegna.
Portraits of Ludovico Gonzaga (1414-1478), Second {Marquis of {Mantua, and bis wife “Barbara of
HohenpoUern, daughter of John, Elector of Brandenburg. Facsimile from the orignal engraving
(4% x 6^in.) in the British Museum.
LTHOUGH this engraving has not the spontaneity and vigour of Mantegna’s
own work with the burin, it is, no doubt, from a picture by him and
engraved by an artist trained in his school. A picture representing the same
two persons, and greatly resembling this print, was formerly in the Hamilton
collection and is now in the Cernuschi collection at Paris. It is seriously
damaged, and probably not by the hand of Mantegna himself. The Marquis and his wife may
be seen in plainer costume, but with the same head-dress, in the frescoes of the Gonzaga family by
Mantegna, finished in 1474, in the Castello Vecchio at Mantua.
A. Durer. Hercules, Jealousy, or the Great Satyr, b. 73.
Facsimile by the Imperial Press, Berlin, from the impression in the ‘Berlin
Cabinet, formerly in the
St. Aubyn Collection. (12V x 8^in.)
This engraving belongs to a group of subjects, engraved about 1497-1^00, which show
Durer strongly under the influence of the antique. The subject most nearly allied to this is the
“ Meerwunder,” or “ Rape of Amymone.”
We know too little of the literary sources from which German humanists drew their
notions of antique myths at the beginning of the Renaissance, to explain all the details which
appear grotesquely incongruous with classical tradition.
The meaning of this design especially remains obscure, in spite of the many attempts which
have been made to elucidate it. “The Great Satyr” is a title which explains nothing, and merely
serves to distinguish it from the small “ Satyr Family.” Vasari describes it as “ Diana inflicting
punishment on one of her nymphs, who is flying for shelter to the bosom of a satyr.” He adds
that Durer’s real motive was to show his mastery of the nude, which is true enough as far as it
8