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Lot Essay
The composition of this print is based on one of the fresco roundels at the base of the ceiling of Camera dei Venti in Palazzo Tè, Mantua, designed by Giulio Romano and executed by his workshop in 1527-28.
The name of the room is based on the personifications of the winds depicted in the lower part of the ceiling.
The vault is divided into four intertwined octagonal compartments, filled with a total of 12 elongated hexagonal scenes painted in fresco, depicting scenes of the God on Mount Olympus. Towards the sides of the vault, the Signs of the Zodiac made in stucco bas-reliefs alternate with painted representations of the Months. At the base of the ceiling, a series of small fresco roundels depict human activities relating to each Zodiac sign, including the Combat of Gladiators, which is associated with the sign of Taurus.
Giulio Romano's decorations at Mantua were one of the prime sources of inspiration for the - mainly Italian - artists working for Francis I at Fontainebleau, including over sixty prints produced there after his designs. These were in large part created by the Bolognese painter, etcher and decorator Antonio Fantuzzi, who was Primaticcio's assistant at Fontainebleau. The sources for his etchings must have been either Giulio's original preparatory drawings or exact copies after these.
The present print is of remarkable rarity: in her census Catherine Jenkins records less than ten impressions. To our knowledge, only one other impression has been offered at auction within the last thirty years, at Christie's, London, on 14 December 2017; another was offered at Christie’s in 1985.
The name of the room is based on the personifications of the winds depicted in the lower part of the ceiling.
The vault is divided into four intertwined octagonal compartments, filled with a total of 12 elongated hexagonal scenes painted in fresco, depicting scenes of the God on Mount Olympus. Towards the sides of the vault, the Signs of the Zodiac made in stucco bas-reliefs alternate with painted representations of the Months. At the base of the ceiling, a series of small fresco roundels depict human activities relating to each Zodiac sign, including the Combat of Gladiators, which is associated with the sign of Taurus.
Giulio Romano's decorations at Mantua were one of the prime sources of inspiration for the - mainly Italian - artists working for Francis I at Fontainebleau, including over sixty prints produced there after his designs. These were in large part created by the Bolognese painter, etcher and decorator Antonio Fantuzzi, who was Primaticcio's assistant at Fontainebleau. The sources for his etchings must have been either Giulio's original preparatory drawings or exact copies after these.
The present print is of remarkable rarity: in her census Catherine Jenkins records less than ten impressions. To our knowledge, only one other impression has been offered at auction within the last thirty years, at Christie's, London, on 14 December 2017; another was offered at Christie’s in 1985.