Identification and Creation Object Number 2007.40 People Giovanni

© President and Fellows of Harvard College
Identification and Creation
Object Number
2007.40
People
Giovanni Battista Scultori, Italian (1503 - 1575)
After Giulio Romano, Italian (Rome 1499? - 1546
Mantua)
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Title
Trojans Repelling the Greeks
Classification
Prints
Work Type
print
Date
1538
Culture
Italian
Physical Descriptions
Technique
Engraving
Dimensions
plate and sheet: 39.9 x 58.2 cm (15 11/16 x 22 15/16 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
Signed: l.c. I.B.MANTVANVS SCVLPTOR 1538
inscription: on matting, graphite: Giovanni Battista
Ghisi: "Les Troyens repoussant les Grecs jusques dans
leurs vaisseaux, ou ils les combattent." Bartsch XV, p
215, No. 20. d'apres Giulio Romano.
collector's mark: verso, purple ink: AB V, arranged as a
monogram on a three-tired cross
inscription: verso, graphite: IB Mantuana sculp In 1538- Giovanni Baptista sculpt vers 1515 a Mantua
"Le combat naval" Jules Romaine (1499-1546)
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Les troques repoussant les grecs jusques dans leurs
vaissaux--d'apres Jules Romaine. C'est le chef oeuvre
du graveur.
TR 5114.69
State, Edition, Standard
Standard Reference Number
Reference Number
B. 20
Acquisition and Rights
Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Bequest of
William S. Lieberman
Accession Year
2007
Object Number
2007.40
Division
European and American Art
Contact
[email protected]
Descriptions
Commentary
The Mantuan printmakers Giovanni Battista Scultori
and his daughter, Diana Scultori (also known
erroneously as Diana Ghisi), were both described in
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Vasari's Lives in 1568. She was of the first women
printmakers to sign the majority of her works; indeed
Vasari included very few other female artists of any
kind. Giovanni Battista taught Diana and her brother
Adamo to engrave, and both went on to print careers in
Rome. The two Lieberman works from this artist family
are both copied after Giulio Romano, the court painter
at Mantua. They depict scenes from the Trojan War in a
relief-like style that shows the painter's interest in
antique sculpture, particularly the friezes from
sarcophagi. Giovanni Battista shows an unspecified
battle held simultaneously on land and sea; as the
Trojans push the Greeks back into the water, the
allegorical figureheads of the ships blend into literal
sea-horses. The level of armorial detail is so high that it
is difficult to ascertain which side is which. In contrast,
Diana's engraving highlights a pause in the Greek-onRoman action. Achilles' close friend Patrols has
borrowed that celebrated fighter's armor to rout the
encroaching Trojan army. Having pushed them too far,
he is killed for his hubris by Apollo. In the quiet center
of the composition, he falls soft and naked over the
knee of his mourning companion.
This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff
but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently
revised and enhanced. For more information please
contact the Division of European and American Art at
[email protected]
Generated on February 20, 2017 at 07:55pm
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