Jupiter and Callisto (Jupiter placing Callisto in the heaven)

Engraving, 1541-1544 circa, inscribed at lower left 'A.FONTANA.BLEO.BOL INVENTOR'.

The inscription A. FONTANA BLEO BOL INVENTOR indicates that the engraving reproduces a work by Primaticcio for Fontainebleau. H. Zerner associated the composition with the decoration of the Appartement des Bains. Reiset believed that the composition had been painted in fresco on the ceiling of the Galerie d'Ulysse, but Dimier already pointed out that no such theme had ever appeared there.

Example in its second final state, according to Boorsch, Lewis and Lewis (first state before the inscription)

The composition is also known in a drawing of the same size but in reverse direction, now in the Louvre, Paris (INV. 8536).

The sheet shows a composition inscribed in an irregular pentagonal shape which could, according to Ch. Eschenfelder, behalf of a regular hexagon, following a type of partition noted for the lunettes of the Appartement des Bains.  According to Boorsch (The French Renaissance in Prints, pp. 337-339, n. 93) the iconographic theme is the story of Jupiter and Callisto, as told in Ovid’s Metamorphoses (2,409-530): the scene shown,painted in a vault, was the culmination of the story:

“But Jove held his [Arcas's] hand and rescued both, the mother from death and the son from crime. Then, snatching them up through the air in a whirlwind, he set them in the heavens and made them neighboring stars" (Metamorphoses 2.505-7).

If the hypothesis formulated by S. Boorsch is correct, the insertion of The Fall of Phaeton (Zerner 6) in the same place could be a plausible idea: the two scenes would then constitute respectively the premise and the epilogue of the History of Callisto, in a sort of counterpoint. In fact, in both compositions, Jupiter is the hero of a fall and a rise to heaven respectively. That said, it does not seem that the dimensions of the two scenes are homogeneous.

The engraving of Jupiter and Callisto (also known as Jupiter and Other Gods Looking at Callisto) it has been attributed to different authors: Huber and Le Blanc, misinterpreting Vasari's text, have attributed the execution to Luca Penni; Mariette, followed by the critics, hesitated between Giorgio Ghisi and Guido Ruggieri. Bartsch, attributed it to Giorgio Ghisi.

Today, it tends to be included in the corpus of the FG Master. Stefania Massari kept the attribution to Ghisi, apparently believing there was a second, that one by “FG”.

Boorsch, Michal and R. E. Lewis, based on its similarity in style, attribute the work to Girolamo Fagiuoli, identifying the monogram FG as the artist’s name.

C. Jenkins writes:

“This mysterious printmaker, who signed most of his works with the letters F and G superimposed, produced seven meticulous engravings after a group of designs for Fontainebleau that date between 1541 and 1544.334 Much has been written about the possible identity of the engraver, though no concrete evidence has been found. All the surviving impressions of his prints are on Italian paper, which suggests that he was active in Italy and that Primaticcio wings made their way to him.” (Prints at the Court of Fontainebleau, I, p 62).

A fine impression, printed on contemporary laid paper with “human head in the circle” watermark, trimmed to the platemark, very good condition. Rare.

Bibliografia

Bartsch, XV, 59; TIB, XXXI, n. 59 (407); Bellini, Ghisi, p. 304 n. F24; Boorsch, in The French Renaissance in Prints, n. 93, pp. 337-339; Boorsch, M. & R. Lewis, Giorgio Ghisi, p. 212 n. R7; Hind, III, p. 29 n. 2; Zerner, 1990, p. 109 note 1; Massari, p. 157, Incisori mantovani p. 157 n. 229; Primatice, pp. 195-198, n. 73.