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Identification and Creation

Object Number
2007.40
People
Giovanni Battista Scultori, Italian (1503 - 1575)
After Giulio Romano, Italian (Rome 1499? - 1546 Mantua)
Title
Trojans Repelling the Greeks
Classification
Prints
Work Type
print
Date
1538
Culture
Italian
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/316186

Physical Descriptions

Technique
Engraving
Dimensions
plate and sheet: 39.9 x 58.2 cm (15 11/16 x 22 15/16 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • Signed: l.c. I.B.MANTVANVS SCVLPTOR 1538
  • inscription: on matting, graphite: Giovanni Battista Ghisi: "Les Troyens repoussant les Grecs jusques dans leurs vaisseaux, ou ils les combattent." Bartsch XV, p 215, No. 20. d'apres Giulio Romano.
  • collector's mark: verso, purple ink: AB V, arranged as a monogram on a three-tired cross
  • inscription: verso, graphite: IB Mantuana sculp In 1538-- Giovanni Baptista sculpt vers 1515 a Mantua
    "Le combat naval" Jules Romaine (1499-1546)

    Les troques repoussant les grecs jusques dans leurs vaissaux--d'apres Jules Romaine. C'est le chef oeuvre du graveur.

    TR 5114.69

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
William S. Lieberman, bequest; to Harvard Art Museums, 2007

State, Edition, Standard Reference Number

Standard Reference Number
Bartsch 20

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Bequest of William S. Lieberman
Accession Year
2007
Object Number
2007.40
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
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Descriptions

Commentary
The Mantuan printmakers Giovanni Battista Scultori and his daughter, Diana Scultori (also known erroneously as Diana Ghisi), were both described in Vasari's Lives in 1568. She was of the first women printmakers to sign the majority of her works; indeed Vasari included very few other female artists of any kind. Giovanni Battista taught Diana and her brother Adamo to engrave, and both went on to print careers in Rome. The two Lieberman works from this artist family are both copied after Giulio Romano, the court painter at Mantua. They depict scenes from the Trojan War in a relief-like style that shows the painter's interest in antique sculpture, particularly the friezes from sarcophagi. Giovanni Battista shows an unspecified battle held simultaneously on land and sea; as the Trojans push the Greeks back into the water, the allegorical figureheads of the ships blend into literal sea-horses. The level of armorial detail is so high that it is difficult to ascertain which side is which. In contrast, Diana's engraving highlights a pause in the Greek-on-Roman action. Achilles' close friend Patrols has borrowed that celebrated fighter's armor to rout the encroaching Trojan army. Having pushed them too far, he is killed for his hubris by Apollo. In the quiet center of the composition, he falls soft and naked over the knee of his mourning companion.

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu