Conversation on Mount Olympus
Artist
Giovanni Battista Franco
(Italian, ca. 1510-1561)
Dateca. 1552-1561
Object number62.0343
Mediumoil on canvas
Dimensions60 5/8 × 91 3/4 in. (154 × 233 cm)
frame: 73 × 104 1/2 × 5 in. (185.4 × 265.4 × 12.7 cm)
frame: 73 × 104 1/2 × 5 in. (185.4 × 265.4 × 12.7 cm)
ClassificationsPainting
Credit LineMuseo de Arte de Ponce. The Luis A. Ferré Foundation, Inc.
Collections
DescriptionGiovanni Battista Franco, born in Venice, arrived in Rome at the age of twenty and, like many artists of the time, devoted himself to studying ancient works. But his drawings after Michelangelo's works were more numerous, and often wrongly attributed to the Renaissance master. The lessons he learned from copying, for example, the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel and the sculptures in the Medici Chapel in Florence, while in the service of Duke Cosimo I de’ Medici, continually inspired his production.
“Conversation on Mount Olympus” also reflects the renewed interest in classical literature during the Renaissance. The scene is inspired by one of the stories in Apuleius’s “Metamorphosis,” an ancient work from the second century AD that tells the tale of Cupid and Psyche. After her failed journey to Earth in search of the beautiful mortal, the goddess Venus returns to Olympus in her golden carriage drawn by white doves, where she demands that Jupiter, identified by his imposing eagle, order Mercury to assist her in achieving her goal. In this late-period work, created after his return to Venice, the figures’ poses and monumentality, both learned from Michelangelo, still prevail.
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