Physical Qualities
Engraving on three joined sheets of paper, Sheet: 371 x 1112 mm. (14 5/8 x 43 3/4 in.)
Credit Line
Garrett Collection
Object Number
1984.81.2632
Celebratory—and salacious—activities unfold during the wedding preparations and feast of Cupid and Psyche, a scene based on the mythological story written by the 2nd-century Roman poet Apuleius. Diana Mantuana’s print expertly replicates a section of a large-scale wall painting (fresco) by Giulio Romano in the Palazzo del Te in Mantua, Italy, during the late 1520s. Mantuana, who both made and sold her own engravings, was also the first Italian woman to sign her prints: above the doorway on the far left, a placard announces Diana F. (fecit, or made). A portion of Giulio Romano's mural at the Palazzo del Te, Mantua, Italy. The scene recreated by Mantuana appears in the lower left. Palazzo del Te, Mantua, Italy.
Susan Dackerman, BMA, "The Pious & the Profane in Renaissance Prints," September 23, 1998-January 3, 1999.
Davis Museum and Cultural Center, Wellesley College, "Grand Scale: Oversize and Composite Prints from the Age of Titial and Dürer," 19 March - 8 June 2008, traveled to Yale University Art Gallery, 17 October - 4 January 2009, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 31 January - 26 April 2009, cat 17, p 124.
Elizabeth Rodini, Jacobs Rotation, fall 2005
Davis Museum and Cultural Center, Wellesley College, "Grand Scale: Oversize and Composite Prints from the Age of Titial and Dürer," 19 March - 8 June 2008, traveled to Yale University Art Gallery, 17 October - 4 January 2009, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 31 January - 26 April 2009, cat 17, p 124.
Elizabeth Rodini, Jacobs Rotation, fall 2005
Inscribed: lower left in plate: "All' Hmo Sr Claudio Gonzagga / Diana Mantouana / E cosa conuenuese che questa mia fatica hauendo riceurto..."; lower left in plate: "Antonius Caeanzanus formis Romae 1613"; lower right in plate: "D. GREGORII PP XIII / PRIVILEGIO AD DECEM / ROMAE MDLXXV"
