The muses and the Pierides

Caraglio, Giovanni Jacopo (born ca. 1500/1505, died 1565)

Rosso Fiorentino (1494-1540) (after a work of)

Item type:

print

Date of creation:

ca. 1525

Height:

24.0 cm  (9 7/16 in.)

Width:

38.6 cm  (15 3/16 in.)

Technique / Medium:

engraving with etching

Place of creation:

Italia

Description

The nine daughters of Pierus challenge the nine Muses to a singing contest judged by a group of nymphs, gods and goddesses. The nude Muses appear in the lower left with various musical instruments including a lyre, double cornetto, viol, Roman trumpet, vièle à archet, and a shawm lying on the ground. Calliope is holding the lyre and singing. Across a stream on the right, the Pierides are standing clothed also with instruments including a tambourine with a goat's horn and a bagpipe on the ground. In the center above the Muses and Pierides, the group of gods and goddesses stand and sit in judgment. All are nude except for Minerva who stands with Apollo in the center. There are three wine jugs, and some of the gods appear to be drunk. The background is a landscape of trees on a hillside.

Iconclass

92D4141
musical contest of the Muses and the Pierides (as yet not metamorphosed)
92B35
non-aggressive, friendly or neutral activities and relationships of Apollo
92C25
non-aggressive, friendly or neutral activities and relationships of Minerva
92L3(+5)
nymphs (in general); 'Ninfe in commune' (Ripa) (+ non-aggressive, friendly or neutral activities and relationships)

Instruments [MIMO Code] (notes)

Lyre [3501]
Cornett [3868] (double cornett)
Viol [3597]
Cornu [4390]
Fiddle [3142]
Shawm [4258]
Tambourine [2746]
End-blown horn [5177] (goat's horn)
Bagpipe [3746]

RIdIM images

Image URLs

image link 1

Bibliographic references

Gori Gandellini, Giovanni. Notizie istoriche degl'intagliatori (Siena: Presso Vincenzo Pazzini Carli e Figlj, 1771-1816) v. I, 197.

Nagler, G. K. Neues allgemeines Künstler-Lexikon, oder, Nachrichten von dem Leben und den Werken der Maler, Bilhauer, Baumeister, Kupferstecher, Lithographen, Formschneider, Zeichner, Medailleure, Elfenbeinarbeiter, etc. 2. Aufl., unveränderter Abdruck der ersten Aufl. 1835-1852 (Linz a. D.: E. Mareis, 1904-1914) v. 2, 424.

Le Blanc, Charles, and Jacques-Charles Brunet. Manuel de l'amateur d'estampes, contenant le dictionnaire des graveurs de toutes les nations (Paris: É. Bouillon, 1854) v. 1, 589, no. 58.

Kusenberg, Kurt. Le Rosso. Maîtres du Moyen Âge et de la Renaissance 7 (Paris: A. Michel, 1931) 158.

Barocchi, Paola. Il Rosso Fiorentino (Rome: Gismondi, 1950) 90-91, fig. 62.

Carroll, Eugene A.. Rosso Fiorentino: Drawings, prints, and decorative arts (Washington, D.C.: National Gallery of Art, 1987) 92-94, no. 17. ISBN: 9780894681059.

Massari, Stafania, Simonetta Prosperi, and Vanenti Rodinò. Tra mito e allegoria: immagini a stampa nel '500 e '600 (Rome: Istituto nazionale per la grafica, 1989) 141-44, cat. 56.

Franklin, David. Rosso in Italy: The Italian career of Rosso Fiorentino (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1994) 134-35, fig. 98. ISBN: 9780300058932.

Archer, Madeline Cirillo. Italian masters of the sixteenth century. The illustrated Bartsch 28 (New York: Abaris Books, 1995) 185-87. ISBN: 9780898351279.

Oberhuber, Konrad, and Achim Gnann. Roma e lo stile classico di Raffaello: 1515-1527 (Milano: Electa, 1999) 365, cat. 273. ISBN: 9788843568512.

Barryte, Bernard. Myth, allegory, and faith: The Kirk Edward Long Collection of Mannerist prints (Stanford, CA: Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts, Stanford University, 2015) app. 221. ISBN: 9788836630882.

Notes

Published by Antonio Salamanca.
Provenance: D'Arenberg, Brussels (L567); Bassenge, Berlin, May 31, 2012, lot 5054.

RIdIM record id

5471