Dosso Dossi
Jupiter, Mercury and Virtue
The work is one of the esoteric allegorical paintings popular at the illustrious court in Ferrara in the early 16th century. Dossi placed the three main figures in a structure dense in symbols and hidden messages, which overshadow the beauty of the figures or the landscape.
The picture depicts Jupiter at the left, with thunders at his foot, in creative act, painting butterflies the symbol of the volatility of thought. The rainbow that appears behind the easel is emblem of evanescence of ideas. Mercury with winged sandals and caduceus, as the god of commerce, is an intermediary between the two worlds, the earthly and the divine. His gesture alludes to the inspiration, which requires silence as a prelude to the various forms of creation, including the artistic one.
The topic derives from the dialog of deities in Virtus by Leone Battista Alberti - the Virtue wants to complain to Jupiter on maltreatment by people and Fortune, but she is not being heard by the god. According to some scholars the effigy of Jupiter is artist's self portrait or portrait of his patron, Duke of Ferrara who commissioned the painting.
Peter Humfrey dates the painting to between 1523 and 1524, while Friderike Klauner suggest the date of July 22, 1529 and astrological interpretation - conjunction of planets Jupiter and Mercury.
According to Polish researchers (Kuczman, Miziołek), the painting was commissioned by Alfonso d'Este, Duke of Ferrara and created in about 1524. In the 17th century it belonged to Duke Lodovico Widmann in Venice and in the mid 19th century to Michelangelo Barbini. In 1888 it was purchased by Karol Lanckoroński from the Viennese collection of Daniel Penther. In 1939 the image was confiscated by the Germans among 12 other paintings reserved for Adolf Hitler's collection. In 2000 it was donated by Karolina Lancorońska to the Wawel Castle in Kraków.
The picture depicts Jupiter at the left, with thunders at his foot, in creative act, painting butterflies the symbol of the volatility of thought. The rainbow that appears behind the easel is emblem of evanescence of ideas. Mercury with winged sandals and caduceus, as the god of commerce, is an intermediary between the two worlds, the earthly and the divine. His gesture alludes to the inspiration, which requires silence as a prelude to the various forms of creation, including the artistic one.
The topic derives from the dialog of deities in Virtus by Leone Battista Alberti - the Virtue wants to complain to Jupiter on maltreatment by people and Fortune, but she is not being heard by the god. According to some scholars the effigy of Jupiter is artist's self portrait or portrait of his patron, Duke of Ferrara who commissioned the painting.
Peter Humfrey dates the painting to between 1523 and 1524, while Friderike Klauner suggest the date of July 22, 1529 and astrological interpretation - conjunction of planets Jupiter and Mercury.
According to Polish researchers (Kuczman, Miziołek), the painting was commissioned by Alfonso d'Este, Duke of Ferrara and created in about 1524. In the 17th century it belonged to Duke Lodovico Widmann in Venice and in the mid 19th century to Michelangelo Barbini. In 1888 it was purchased by Karol Lanckoroński from the Viennese collection of Daniel Penther. In 1939 the image was confiscated by the Germans among 12 other paintings reserved for Adolf Hitler's collection. In 2000 it was donated by Karolina Lancorońska to the Wawel Castle in Kraków.
oil on canvas, c. 1524, 111.3 × 150 cm (43.8 × 59.1 in), inventory number 8486, on permanent display in the Planet Room, Zamek Królewski na Wawelu
© Marcin Latka
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