Collection:
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ADJUNCT MODULE C: WORLD ART
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Preferred Title:
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Palazzo del Te: Sala di Psiche
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Alternate Title:
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Salon of Psyche
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Image View:
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West wall, the Preparation for the Feast, detail, a landscape with a river and river deities
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Creator:
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Giulio Romano (Italian painter, 1499-1546) and workshop
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Location:
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site: Palazzo del Te (Mantua, Lombardy, Italy)
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Location Note:
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Viale Te, 13
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GPS:
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+45.14737+10.78728
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Date:
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1526-1528 (creation)
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Cultural Context:
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Italian
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Style Period:
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Mannerist (Renaissance-Baroque style)
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Work Type 1:
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fresco (painting)
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Classification:
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Paintings
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Material:
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pigment on plaster; gold gilding
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Technique:
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fresco painting (technique); gilding (technique)
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Inscription:
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HONESTO OCIO POST LABORES TO REPARANDAM VIRT [utem] QVIETI CONSTRVI MANDAVIT (Honest leisure after the efforts of government)
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Relation Work:
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part of Palazzo del Té
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Subjects:
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cycles or series; decorative arts; mythology (Classical); Cupid (Roman deity); Gonzaga family; Psyche (Greek deity); banquet hall
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Description:
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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.oxfordartonline.com/)
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Collection:
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Archivision Adjunct Module C: World Art
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Identifier:
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1A1-RG-PT-I-CCP2-A13
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Rights:
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© Scott Gilchrist, Archivision, Inc.
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