vince’s ear

Art versus pornography: the Mona Lisa versus “Moaning Lisa,” the “piece de resistance” versus a piece of a-… you get the picture. We can all agree that classic works of art such as Leonardo’s mysterious La Gioconda are in a higher league and quite different than regular porn store smut. Of course. But is there a time when we can’t tell the difference?

In Kurt Vonnegut’s God Bless You Mister Rosewater the main character’s ultra conservative senator father at one point quips that the difference between art and smut is essentially pubic hair. He says no beautiful works of real art contained the body hair of the pubic area and most respectful works at least contained the censorship of a nice Christian fig leaf. Heaven forbid the human body is viewed as it was made in the image of God. That would be blasphemy. Without going on a rant about neo-conservative religious views on censorship and book burning, Senator Rosewater brings up a good point here. Though I beg to differ.

Can Senator Rosewater be saying that Michelangelo’s David is pornographic because his perfect body shows a tuft of pubic hair? Uber-conservatives such as Queen Victoria in the past have requested that a fig leaf be placed over the shepherd boy’s petite uncircumcised wiener for her visit. We wouldn’t want the old monarch to faint at the sight of a penis, with pubic hair or not. One can’t begin to tell me that David is not a work of art because he decided not to trim his nether regions.

Yet we all know different societies and times hold different values. Primitive societies lacked shame when revealing their bodies in their dress and art, to include classic antiquity in Rome and Greece (see Pompeii frescoes). It was the uptight ultra religious societies of Europe that lasted from after Rome on through the Middle Ages and varying in certain levels up to and beyond the Victorian Age of the 19th century that often called for modesty and fig leaf attitudes. Some cultures, particularly in “civilized” countries such as England would have their citizens cover their whole body in dress even in scorching weather.

So you can imagine their art, and how they might consider it naughty that Honoré Fragonard gives us a glimpse of a leg in the Swing. Fragonard’s Swing represented a form of erotica, lacking nudity but hardly lacking imagination. The evident affair between the woman on the swing and the hiding man in the foreground perfectly poised to see up her dress made for a sultry situation that would make young fops in those days blush. The more revealing Stolen Kiss, painted in 1770 almost shows cleavage as the young woman removes her most outer garments and obviously anticipates a more intimate situation with her young lover, who eagerly kisses her. Many of Fragonard’s paintings involved ambiguous situations which subtly imply more “indecent” undertones.

Pubic hair in paintings made a debut later in Goya’s Naked Maja, who reclines comfortably showing her untrimmed naughty bits. Nobody really knows who Maja was exactly, but she sure shows off some dark pubic hair tot he viewer- though it has been thought the painting itself was meant to be a private addition to the more public Clothed Maja. No doubt in those times the Nude Maja was viewed as pornographic and unacceptable for fine art. But that would all change depending on social climates and individual points of view.

Seen above is Gustave Courbet’s Origin of the World. Painted in 1866, it shows the unashamed and detailed closeup of a woman spread-eagle revealing her genitals. Though the identity of the woman is known, in this painting the sitter, along with any surroundings, save for the sheets, are all unnecessary and subordinate to the main theme of the painting- the erotic depiction of a woman’s sex. The painting was shocking in its time, a time of questioning moral values. Courbet, along with Eduard Manet (Olympia) helped to revolutionize the depiction of nudity in fine art.

Throughout the years pioneers such as Fragonard have somewhat been pushing the envelope at some times with brash statements. Somewhere between art and pornography there lies subtle implications, or sexual innuendos. Just as Fragonard’s paintings imply the impending sexual encounter, such paintings as Kirchner’s Self Portrait with model imply the recent sex he’s had with the girl with his hair brush pointing toward his crotch. This is similar to some of Caravaggio’s darker subtleties like the David and Goliath with the David, holding the severed self-portrait head of Goliath, while holding the sword across his penis, or the Uffizi version of the Sacrifice of Isaac, which aside from the story and context of the situation, looks as if the child is a victim of rape more than anything else.

How about post-modern art? Take for instance My Lonesome Cowboy, by Takashi Murakami. It would be hard to defend this against accusations of porn. He’s ejaculating! Soft-core pornography on “Skin-emax” doesn’t even show erections, or penetrations, let alone the graphic depiction of male climax. In nude paintings throughout the ages the occurrence of an erection is few and far between. So some may argue that this particular variable may be the differing evidence of pornographic nature in art. It also occurred in ancient art such as the old Indian illustration for the Kama Sutra. Was that porn? Is Britney Spears Pregnant vulgar because of the position she’s in? Or is it a celebration of nature (The child is even crowning) and/or celebrities and/or female nudity in general?

It depends on the situation and presentation, but like most things it mostly depends on your own point of view. My Lonesome Cowboy is a work of art, and is not pornography, the same as many other works of art involving erections, sex, pubic hair, whether subtle or in-your-face. Art is too complex to be black or white, especially with so many questions on what can be considered art, completely aside from nude art. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. If tight-ass conservatives call a glimpse of pubic hair pornography, so be it- it hasn’t and won’t stop people from creating such art, or viewers from appreciating it.

See also Disrobed: Nude Paintings, Sculpture and Photography

I thought it would be funny if I presented twenty or so pictures taken from both paintings and downright porno and ask if you thought they were art or pornography- but I won’t be that cruel or indecent. However, some of the following unlikely paintings were met with criticism for their “indecent,” erotic, or pornographic nature, some in their own times, and some today:

Jean Fouquet was the leading painter and most important artist in France during the early Renaissance. He was a master of panel painting and illuminated manuscripts, the illustrating of ancient texts with designs usually in gold or silver. He is also apparently the inventor of miniature painting. He is considered the first well-defined personality in all of French art.

Jean Fouquet was a painter of royal portraits very early in his career. Between 1437 Fouquet traveled to Rome where he met with perspective artists such as Fra Angelico, Domenico Veneziano, and Piero della Fransesca. Here he studied contemporary Italian painting and ancient art. He also completed a portrait of Pope Eugenius IV. Upon returning to the French court he combined the naturalistic detail of the Van Eycks, which was the basis for the French style, with the monumental spatiality of the Tuscan art he learned on his travels. With this blending of the styles, Fouquet became the founder of a new French School. His aim was to evolve from the Gothic traditions and develop a new figurative language, the highest pictorial expression of humanism in France.

One of the most important Fouquet paintings is the Melun Diptych with a portrait of Étienne Chevalier, the executor of King Charles VII’s will. with his patron saint Saint Stephen on the left with a unique Madonna and Child on the right. The Madonna is a portrait of Agnès Sorel, the favorite of King Charles VII. The Madonna is shown with infant on lap and one breast exposed ready to feed. She holds the baby as she looks down at him, as he points with his left hand. In the background are red and blue angels

Jean Fouquet was a very notable artist not just in French history but in all of Renaissance art. For one he is the first artist to complete an independent self portrait in the fifteenth century. This self portrait is a valuable medallion painted in gold on a black background and shows the artist looking forward out at the viewer. It resembles other coins and medallions of the period but is unique in that all the coins or medals always showed the figure in profile. He is also the greatest miniaturist in all of art history. Many of these miniatures were meant to be part of his illuminated manuscripts. His miniatures are noted for their highly detailed settings along with their realistic natural detail. The costumes on the subject are finely painted and contain refined gold leafing with gold dust making garments literally shine.

Born in Padua, the leading center of humanism in northern Italy, Andrea Mantegna, in true humanist fashion, attained a knowledge of classical Antiquity and Roman archaeology. At an early age, he apprenticed under Fransesco Squarcione, an avid studier of ancient Roman arts and sculpture. Being a favorite pupil of Squarcione, Mantegna no doubt was encouraged to study ancient Roman sculpture, as was evident in the sculptural style of his paintings, with their stony figures and metallic landscapes. Studying while Donatello and Paolo Uccello were in town led Mantegna to delve into the new developments of perspective and other styles. The best example of his skill with perspective can be seen in the Camera degli Sposi with its sotto in su illusion.

His first major work was for the frescoes of the Ovetari Chapel of the Eremetani church in Padua, which he worked on as part of a group of several painters but finished most of the work alone. These frescoes show his skill of expressing classical motifs along with a mastery of foreshortening. One of the most dramatic examples of this effect as well as most dramatic in all of the frescoes is the worm’s-eye view of Saint Led To His Execution, which creates a large and prominent setting.

Andrea Mantegna moved away from Padua at a young age most likely following a dispute with his former teacher, who he later claimed had stolen some of his works and taken credit for. He moved to Mantua and answered a call by Duke Ludovico II to take the job of court painter in the House of Gonzaga. He executed the Camera degli Sposi with a style which was later emulated by Correggio and predicted Baroque design. During this time he executed the first Saint Sebastian and completed some architectural designs and decorations. While as court painter, Mantegna would radically change the artistic style of the court. He changed the style from Gothic fantastical to humanist, with an emphasis on archaeology and perspective. His interest in archaeology would be seen when the Ludovico II Gonzaga commissioned nine large canvasses to represent the triumphs of Caesar.

The Dead Christ (seen above) shows Mantegna’s excellent use of foreshortening with the dramatic view of the dead body from the feet. It was painted toward the end of his life around 1500 and was most likely meant for his own funerary chapel. It is remarkable not only for the composition with its extreme foreshortening, but it is also one of the few works on canvas of the time. The highly detailed corpse shows the wounds of the crucified Christ. The body dominates the majority of the pictorial space with the mourners barely visible tucked away in the corner. The colors are very somber and dead. It is a fantastic and sad painting, marking the end of a dark period in his life after the recent banishment of his son, and his own inevitable demise.

Andrea Mantegna would later highly influence artists like Correggio especially with his ceiling designs, which were used for centuries to come. Other artists were inspired by his works, such as Leonardo da Vinci and Albrecht Dürer, as well as his brother-in-law Giovanni Bellini. When Mantegna died, the Gonzaga court went into mourning, and received tributes from all over Italy which, along with the acclaim, were more than any artist had received before.

A large painting of a large woman is expected to bring in large amounts of moolah at an auction next month. The painting is by none other than Lucien Freud, the British painter who paints people as they are, with no sign of idealism whatsoever. So what if a few rolls of fat make their way onto the portrait, or you just don’t look as beautiful as you thought? This painter is a painter of reality how he sees it.

Freud is known for his impasto paintings with neutral tones often depicting nudes and sleeping people. His unforgiving portraits make no effort to hide physical features or unsightliness, and his realistic portrayals will leave no wart or blemish undepicted. In fact, you might say his paintings are borderline exaggerated, and may resemble caricatures. His portrait of the queen was met with a little hostility for not making her more beautiful. Is that a five o’clock shadow?

The painting above is called Benefits Supervisor Sleeping and is expected to be bring in $36 million at Christie’s Auction House in New York. This would be a record for the largest sum paid for a painting by a living artist, beating the previous record of $23.5 million for a Jeff Koons painting last year. The model is a London civil worker named Sue Tilley, who Freud affectionately calls “Big Sue.” She represents his propensity for painting people of odd proportions and big figures. She claims Freud chose her as a model because he could get the highest value for his money- more pounds of model for his pounds sterling.

The artist known as Donatello was one of the most important sculptors in Italy in the fifteenth century. He is considered one of the founding fathers of the Renaissance. His innovative styles, including making shadow relief sculptures, involved the newly discovered developments in perspectival illusion. Like many budding artists of the time, Donatello had his artistic beginnings in goldsmith. Soon, however, he moved to Rome where he met and studied with the architect Filippo Brunelleschi. The two men together laid the foundation for the emerging Italian Renaissance, while Brunelleschi was taking measurements of the Pantheon Dome and Donatello was developing his style. Their work was characteristic of the spirit of the Renaissance and both the architecture of one and the sculpture of the other would have a profound effect of the painters of the era.

Donatello’s work was innovative and creatively unique. The enormous Saint John the Evangelist, with its realistic humanity, marked a change from late Gothic styles to an age where naturalism and the rendering of human feelings was sought. While the head was still idealized like earlier sculpture, the hands, and legs are very realistic. He also created the first known use of central-point perspective with the bas-relief Saint George and the Dragon. The technique known as stiaciatto, a form of bas-relief, was invented by Donatello and has been explained as “drawing in marble.” In his works following these, mostly niche works and other sculpture for cathedrals, his expression became more and more realistic as well as emotionally charged. He freely used classical examples for inspiration and used themes from the Antique.

In the 1420s , partnering with Michelozzo, he produced a funerary monument for the Antipope John XXIII. This would highly influence tomb design, with its use of classical architectural designs, along with the Three Virtues and Madonna and Child. It was considered to be “picturesque classicism.” Donatello created in 1445 to 1450 the first equestrian monument since classic times. The Gattamallata horseback rider was made for the Piazza del Santo and was made around the same time as the High Altar of the Santo.

The altar contained reliefs with highly perspectival scenes with crowded figures which would later influence painters such as Andrea Mantegna and Michael Pacher. His works such as David (seen above) , Judith and Holofernes, and Mary Magdalene possessed an expressive quality never before seen. He was highly influential in all the arts in Italy over the next century and his power of expression remained unmatched, perhaps until Michelangelo came along.

Giorgione is the recognized name of the Venetian painter Giorgio Barbarelli da Castelfranco. As a musician and a poet, his work is known for its poetic nature with warm atmospheres which convey strong sense of moods. Much of his life’s work was executed as frescoes which unfortunately have not survived. Very little of his documented life and artwork survives today, with many of the paintings previously credited to him having been disproved and only six legitimate paintings from which to gather what the man was all about. Therefore the artist known as Giorgione remains to this day very much a mystery.

Much of what we know about Giorgione comes from the famous Italian biographer Giorgio Vasari, who included the Venetian artist. He grew up in a small town outside Venice, Castelfranco, with his name sometimes appearing as Zorzon, or “Big George.” He moved into the city of Venice at a young age and apprenticed under the painter Giovanni Bellini, and later learned much of the ideas of the “outsider” artists Albrect Dürer and Leonardo. He gained quick fame and produced all of his famous works in the first decade of the sixteenth century. His big ticket came when he was commissioned for an altarpiece in his home town of Castelfranco for the cathedral Veneto, at which he portrayed a serene countryside with a spacious view bathed in natural light. Soon after he established a successful workshop and received commissions for frescoes all around Venice. This was what would have been the start of a prolific career at the rate he was going, but unfortunately the plague would cut his life short and he died at the age of 33.

Giorgione’s work was varied in subjects ranging from portraits and religious subjects set in huge landscapes, to philosophical works with themes of moral allegories, and the three ages of man. Some paintings include erotic nude females reclining, or other busts of women, concerts, and subjects from mythology. Some seemingly secular paintings could have religious references such as the “Three Philosophers” (seen above). This unique composition shows philosophers of different ages who appear to be traveling but have stopped on the edge of the woods. The youngest sits and ponders, oblivious to the others and his surroundings. While the other two are having a conversation, the young one sits and looks out into the countryside, and ponders as if expecting an epiphany. It has been suggested this is a reference to the Three Magi on their way to see the birth of Jesus, and can be interpreted as the travel in one’s life through different stages.

Another work which has fascinated and perplexed students of the art of the era is the Tempest. It has been interpreted by scholars with differing opinions and its meanings and symbolism still remains enigmatic. Even the name The Tempest is not known for sure to be the original title, but given later based on the composition. It shows a dark landscape with a city in the background and a bolt of lightening striking above. Seated on the right of the canvas is a woman feeding a child gazing out at the viewer. Gazing at her is a man dressed in red holding a staff, on the far left of the painting. The prevailing theory on the picture is that is represents Adam and Eve soon after the Expulsion. The bolt of lightning can possibly the sword of the Archangel. Giorgione was known to be a remarkable landscapist and often included the beauty and wonder of nature in his works. He is one of the first artists to assign such a leading role to the wonder of the natural world.

The painter known as Titian led a long and successful career characterized by inventiveness and mastery of color. He was born and worked in Venice and apprenticed under Giovanni Bellini, just as fellow Venetian Giorgione had. Titian worked with Giorgione and is even thought to have helped finished Geiorgione’s enigmatic masterpiece The Tempest. By 1515 Titian had surpassed Giorgione and all the rest of his contemporaries and was considered the leader and master of the Venetian school. Throughout his long life he would be praised by intellectual circles and sought after by droves of collectors and members of the royal courts.

His royal portraits such as Charles V at the Battle of Mühlberg would be a model for future royal portraits and would be a much copied composition throughout the Baroque period. By 1520 his fame began to spread and received commissions not only in his hometown of Venice, but in the royal courts of Gonzaga and Este. This would make him one of the most acclaimed portrait artists in all of Europe. In 1533, after meeting Emperor Charles V Titian entered a relationship with the Spanish court that would last over thirty years. In the 1540s Titian visited Rome where he met Michelangelo during the starts of Mannerism. After leaving Rome he returned to Venice where he isolated himself from the mainstream, aside from a few visits to Charles V. His later works show a free handled style and superb use of patches of color to render form.

Besides some remarkable religious subjects such as the Assumption and the Pietá, much of Titian’s work comes from mythological and classical inspirations. One of his most well noted masterpieces is the Sacred and Profane Love (seen above) which was painted in 1514 and really put him on the map, helping to surpass Bellini as “Painter to the Republic.” It shows two woman representing the two types of love, who, despite the connotations of the title, do not call for a choice of the two, but rather a balance. The clothed woman on the left represents marriage and Earthly love. Marriage is a central point of the painting as it was a wedding gift of Nicolò Aurelio to his new bride Laura Bagarotto. The woman is not a portrait of Laura, but is meant to be an allegory of marriage in general. The whole theme represents fertility and love, with small details such as a pair of rabbits visible in the near background. The other woman is virtually nude and holds a lamp signifying eternal love on a more spiritual level. Cupid quietly stirs water between the two woman in a sarcophagus depicting a violent death, perhaps as a reference to the recent hanging of Laura’s father. The fact that water is being stirred in such a sarcophagus symbolizes how love can emerge and be reborn even from death.

Albrecht Dürer was a universal artist with an open minded attitude which was the epitome of what the Renaissance was all about. Energetic, creative, and highly talented he constantly sought out new themes, ideas and techniques. He was born in Nuremberg, Germany in 1471, and was a painter, printmaker, mathematician, and overall intellectual. He is probably best known for his prints and engravings which include the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and the famous Melencolia I, as well as his series on the Passions of Christ. He was also trained in goldsmith, and was an outstanding watercolorist.

At the age of nineteen Dürer finished an apprenticeship and traveled to Basel, Strasburg, and Vienna as well as to Venice further his academic studies. These trips would introduce him to European perspectives of figurative art, but more importantly let him witness firsthand the height of the splendor of the Italian Renaissance. During his treks he completed a number of excellent landscape drawings and watercolor paintings. On his return to Venice he studied Venetian contemporary painters such as Giovanni Bellini, who he idolized. His first major painting “The Festival of the Rose Gardens,” was meant to rival any Italian painting in its brilliant use of color. At a very young age he was considered to be the leading artist in Nuremberg. His self assurance and confidence is evident is his self portrait of 1500, when he painted himself in the likeness of Jesus Christ, so sure of his place in society, if not just a little cocky.

Like his Italian contemporary Leonardo, Albrecht Dürer was fascinated by the world around him and studied science and nature intensely. Some of his watercolors show a high attention to detail to nature, such as his “A Young Hare,” showing a precise depiction of a rabbit, with every last fur and whisker. He was also a brilliant mathematician, including his knowledge in his works such as Melencholia I showing an order -4 “magic square” mathematical arrangement of numbers. The table gives the sum of 34 in all directions, with the two numbers in the bottom center being 15 and 14, 1514 being the year it was made.

One of Dürer’s favorite subjects is the Madonna. The Mother of God with Baby Jesus, often surrounded by cherubim and angels appears again and again in the artist’s work. In his rendering of the Madonnas and other religious theme, he portrayed his subjects with a beauty which was both ideal and natural at the same time. He would often receive religious commissions for triptychs and altarpieces where he would include portraits of the patrons and donors in the form of saints or pious worshipers. It was not uncommon as well to see a self portrait of the artist in scenes of all types, showing a confident and attractive man who took pride in his appearance.

In his later life Albrecht Dürer attempted to interpret some of the social and religious transformations he had witnessed throughout his wide experience and travels across Europe. Although he had enjoyed success from a young age, in his later years the artist thought he was more unknown and anxiously attempted to make himself noticed again. He began to acknowledge the limits of art and humanity and took a gloomier and embittered outlook of life. He died in 1528 after a successful career, leaving a legacy of influencing many major artists in the years to come.

You can’t begin to describe Pieter Bruegel the Elder and his amazing art in one or two posts. The posts The Wintry Scenes of Pieter Bruegel and The Triumph of Death described two of the painter’s masterpieces. But there is so much more to Bruegel, with so many interesting stories being played out across towns, villages, and countrysides of the Netherlands during the Renaissance.

One of the few times my high school art teacher gave us any freedom was when we had to use linear perspective to draw a street with houses on either side and a horseman in the center. Everyone else copied the original to the t, but when my teacher allowed me to add characters to the scene, it was time to unleash the Bruegel fury. I had always admired the packed peasant streets of Bruegel’s towns such as Children’s Games, and Netherlandish Proverbs (above), so I drew all kinds of people hanging out of windows, playing tricks one each other, playing games or fighting, etc. You know, the kind of things that make an ordinarily plain and simple landscape entertaining and full of life.

Pieter Bruegel painted Netherlandish Proverbs early in his career and shows a highly imaginative composition illustrating the foolishness of life with 100 identifiable proverbs. He does this in such a way as to show each proverb as part of a larger scene, which read literally would be quite the chaotic landscape. Each adage, many of which are still used today, blends right into the next. If you didn’t know it was a painting full of metaphors and folk wisdoms, you might just think it was a crazy, topsy-turvy world unfolding before your eyes, not dissimilar to many of Bruegel’s other paintings.

Some Proverbs

The sow pulls the bung- Negligence will be rewarded with disaster.

It depends on the fall of the cards- It is up to chance.

The world is turned upside down- Everything is the opposite of what it should be.

Leave at least one egg in the nest- Always have something in reserve.

The roof has lathes/ the walls have ears- Someone could be listening.

To have the roof tiled with tarts- To be living in the lap of luxury/ abundance. (The Land of Cockaigne)

To be a hen feeler- To count one’s chickens before they hatch.

They both shit in the same hole- They are in agreement.

To throw one’s money in the water- To waste one’s money.

Big fish eat the little fish.

To have fire in one hand, water in the other- To be two-faced and stir up trouble.

Many parts have more than one meaning:

To Bang one’s head against a brick wall - To try to achieve something impossible. One foot shod, the other bare- Balance is paramount.

To bell the cat- To be indiscreet about plans that should be secret. Armed to the teeth- Heavily armed. To be an iron biter- To be indiscreet/boastful.

To have a toothache behind the ears- To be a malingerer. To be pissing against the moon- To waste one’s time on a futile endeavor. Here hangs the pot- It is the opposite of what it should be.

Where the gate is open, the pigs will run to the corn- Carelessness breeds disaster. When the corn is less, the pigs are more- If one person gains, then another must lose (no free lunch). To run like one’s backside is on fire- To be in great distress. He who eats fire, shits sparks- Do not be surprised of the outcome of a dangerous venture.

Technorati Tags: proverbs, renaissance, painting, witticisms, sayings, folklore

The full list at wikipedia.

Antonio Allegri would take the name of his home town Corregio, as his own. He was born in the town of his namesake near the city of Reggio Emilia, in the Po Valley in northern Italy, and would eventually become the leader of the Parma School. His fluid and luminous style was characterized by soft expressions and a bold use of perspective, and was a precursor to the Baroque and eventually Rococo. His paintings were both beautiful and elegant and were similar to the emerging Mannerist style.

In 1516 Corregio moved to the city of Parma where he befriended Michelangelo Anselmi, and later married Girolama Francesca di Braghetis. In the year of his marriage, in 1519 he received his first commission for the ceiling of the dining salon of the mother superior of the convent of Saint Paul. The work consists of an oculus, or round opening, with a group of cherubim playfully floating above, marble images below that, with Diana frescoed at the fireplace. The work is reminiscent of the secular frescoes of the Villa Farnesina in Rome.

Like the oculus with the cherubim, Correggio’s work is known to be full of illusions, including the method of sotto in su, or “seen from below.” After completed the Saint Paul frescoes, he painted the Vision of Saint John on Patmos for the dome of the church of Saint John the Evangelist of Parma, which shows a series of receding clouds with a foreground of Christ appearing to descend to the floor, with apostles on the border stretching out. Below the scene are the Four Evangelists, Saints Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. After the Vision of Saint John, Correggio decorated the Cathedral of Parma with another illusion showing the Assumption of the Virgin, ascending to the sky past an infinite series of layers with angels.

Aside from his wonderful ceiling decorations of churches and cathedrals, Corregio is known for his remarkable interpretations of mythological subjects as well, particularly the Loves of Jupiter from Ovid’s Metamorphoses. The series was commissioned by Frederico II Gonzaga of Mantua originally to decorate the Ovid room in his palace, but eventually were given as a gift to Charles V. The series consists of five paintings: Leda and the Swan, Danaë, Ganymede Abducted by the Eagle with its partner painting Jupiter and Io, and Venus and Cupid with a Satyr (seen above). Particularly imaginative and impressive is Jupiter and Io which shows Jupiter taking the form of a cloud to embrace and kiss the nymph Io. The cloud is soft and seems to softly embrace the nymph who in turn submits irresistibly. In the Ganymede painting, Jupiter has taken the form of an eagle and scoops the Ganymede off his feet, who in turn seems to embrace the eagle with love and acceptance of his fate.

Paintings such as the Gaymede as well as his many illusion works seem to foreshadow the Mannerist and Baroque styles with the imaginary replacing natural reality. In truth these styles could possibly have been born with inspirations from Correggio.