Jupiter tumbling from a horse-drawn carriage at right, Ganymede riding Jupiter's eagle upper center, below Venus and to her right, the three Graces
Master of the Die|Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio or Santi)
1530–60 · Engraving · Drawings and Prints
Following Ovid's brief account of Ganymede's abduction (Metamorphoses 10.155–61), the scene shown in this engraving is about love. Cupid is the central character, and Ganymede and the eagle are relegated accessories, testifying to the power of the infant god—even in his sleep—to disarm the supreme ruler of Olympus. Mercury, messenger of the gods, often assisted Jupiter with his love affairs. Here, he rushes to help his father, while Venus, in the company of the Graces, watches over her son.
- Artist
- Master of the Die|Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio or Santi)
- Date
- 1530–60
- Medium
- Engraving
- Department
- Drawings and Prints
- Credit line
- The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1949
