The Rape of Ganymede

Jupiter tumbling from a horse-drawn carriage at right, Ganymede riding Jupiter's eagle upper center, below Venus and to her right, the three Graces.

Engraving, circa 1530, lettered with eight lines of description in two blocks in bottom margin 'Giove inbrando ... / l'armi a giove'. Signed with monogram of the B in the die at lower left.

Replica or reverse copy of the engraving of the Master of the die.

Following Ovid's brief account of Ganymede's abduction (Metamorphoses 10.155–61), the scene shown in this engraving is about love. Cupid is the central character, and Ganymede and the eagle are relegated accessories, testifying to the power of the infant god—even in his sleep—to disarm the supreme ruler of Olympus. Mercury, messenger of the gods, often assisted Jupiter with his love affairs. Here, he rushes to help his father, while Venus, in the company of the Graces, watches over her son.

Magnificent proof, rich in tone, printed on contemporary laid paper without watermark, with full margins on three sides and trimmed to the platemark at the top, in excellent condition

Bibliografia

Cfr. Bartsch, Le Peintre graveur (XV.201.25).