Media Information

 
 
 
Collection:
ADJUNCT MODULE C: WORLD ART
Preferred Title:
Palazzo del Te: Sala di Psiche
Alternate Title:
Salon of Psyche
Image View:
Detail, ceiling scene with soft nocturnal light and extreme foreshortening (four putti with a book)
Creator:
Giulio Romano (Italian painter, 1499-1546) and workshop
Location:
site: Palazzo del Te (Mantua, Lombardy, Italy)
Location Note:
Viale Te, 13
GPS:
45.14737 10.78728
Date:
1526-1528 (creation)
Cultural Context:
Italian
Style Period:
Mannerist (Renaissance-Baroque style)
Work Type 1:
fresco (painting)
Classification:
Paintings
Material:
pigment on plaster; gold gilding
Technique:
fresco painting (technique); gilding (technique)
Inscription:
HONESTO OCIO POST LABORES TO REPARANDAM VIRT [utem] QVIETI CONSTRVI MANDAVIT (Honest leisure after the efforts of government)
Relation Work:
part of Palazzo del Té
Subjects:
cycles or series; decorative arts; mythology (Classical); Cupid (Roman deity); Gonzaga family; Psyche (Greek deity); banquet hall
Description:
Commissioned by Federico II Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua. This large room was intended for entertaining, and a famous banquet was held here in 1530 in honor of Emperor Charles V during his first visit to Mantua; Federico was elevated to Duke at this time. The frescoes in this room illustrate Apuleius's The Golden Ass, a late-antique story that recounts Psyche's romantic adventures and the trials at the hands of Venus which she endured in order to be allowed to marry Cupid. The decoration is spread across the ceiling, compartmentalized into octagons, lozenges and squares and the lunettes, and the upper parts of the walls. The individual scenes are illuminated by a soft, nocturnal light, and represented with extreme foreshortening. Related or analogous stories appear on the walls in fresco, with an emphasis on the erotic in both theme and presentation. The inscription along the walls records Federico as the proprietor and augurs his enjoyment of leisure hours. (Source: Grove Art Online; http://www.oxfordart online.com/)
Collection:
Archivision Adjunct Module C: World Art
Identifier:
1A1-RG-I-CCP6-A11
Rights:
© Scott Gilchrist, Archivision, Inc.

Palazzo del Te: Sala di Psiche