Grotesques with Pagan Gods

Complete set of six works representing Roman deities, grotesque prints on dark ground, with a God/Goddess standing in the middle of an elaborate structure inhabited by dolphins, naked female figures, winged herms and birds.

Engravings, circa 1570/72, lettered with name of engraver and copyright line. As shown by the presence of the copyright, the set was engraved before Delaune's departure from France (1572/73).

A. Grotesque with Mars, B. Grotesque with Minerva, C. Grotesque with Diana, D. Grotesque with Apollo, E. Grotesque with Venus, F. Grotesque with Mercury 

(in order of row from left to right).

“Giorgio Vasari describes how Giovanni da Udine took Raphael to the excavations at the Emperor Nero's Golden House (Domus Aurea), where they saw "certain rooms completely buried underground, which were full of little grotesques... which are called grotesques from their having been discovered in the underground grottoes". Such ornamental paintings had been condemned in antiquity. The poet Horace characterized them as "idle fancies... shaped like a sick man's dreams," and the architect Vitruvius thought these fanciful hybrids could be appreciated only by "minds darkened by imperfect standards of taste". Nevertheless, like the Romans who had "fantasies so varied and so bizarre" ornamenting their walls, Raphael found "their little scenes... pleasing and beautiful".

Giovanni mastered the technique behind the grotesques, and he and Raphael began to emulate them in the Vatican and other Roman projects. With Raphael's imprimatur, these ornaments became a prominent feature of the all’antica vocabulary associated with the revival of classical antiquity. They swiftly spread, so that by the end of the sixteenth century, the French essayist Michel de Montaigne observed that, after completing a painting, "a painter in my employment... [fills] the empty space all around with grotesques; which are fantastic paintings with no other charm than their variety and strangeness".

Etchings and engravings were the primary means by which grotesque motifs became ubiquitous. Prints by Italians inspired German, Netherlandish, and French printmakers to invent their own grotesques, which became models for craftsmen working in other media.

With their vertical orientation, bilateral symmetry, and minute detail, Delaune's Grotesques with Pagan Gods are elegant examples of this genre.

Identified by his armor, Mars (A) stands precariously on an urn supported by a single slim rod. He is offered crowns of victory by putti whose torsos end in thick spirals. Above, fierce raptors presage victory while, below, dolphins with spiraling tails flank a pair of satyresses who look admiringly at the god. Minerva (B), the goddess of wisdom, also stands on an urn. She is flanked by a pair of butter- flies and the owls that usually accompany her. Above are a pair of ostrich-like snail-birds and below are paired stags, horned tritons, and rabbits that nestle in volutes. Diana (C), with her hunting dogs, spear, and moon ornament, strides forth within a curious frame. Below, a mirrored pair of nude women appear to flee as though Adonis has just come upon them bathing. Two spiral-tailed stags decorate the upper corners and, below them, two women, whose bottoms end in diminishing spirals, blow hunting horns. Apollo (D) stands with his bow and lyre, flanked by a pair of sharp- billed creatures mounted on inverted sword blades. The upper corners are occupied by sphinx-like creatures; lions fill the lower corners. Snails, scorpions, gnats, and melancholy men complete the ornamentation that is set off by the dense monochrome background that serves to enhance the relief-like appearance achieved by Delaune. Venus (E), the goddess of love and beauty, stands with her protective son, Cupid, and her doves. A flaming torch, flaming hearts, and flaming arrows are appropriately featured, although it is difficult to explain the presence of the snakes that balance on the tips of their tails or the Phrygian-hatted satyrs who crouch and expel gas. Mercury (F) is identified by his winged cap, caduceus, and his rooster, an emblem of vigilance. The dividers and globes may allude to his role as protector of travelers, while the seated men with books perhaps refer to his role in education, for he taught Cupid to read. As here, he is sometimes associated with crayfish, a symbol of inconstancy appropriate to the crafty god of thieves. The stalks, insects, smoking urns, and hybrid creatures are typical of the whimsical repertoire of grotesquerie; the choice of gods appears idiosyncratic” (cf. B. Barryte, Renaissance Impressions. Sixteenth-Century Mastre Prints from the Kirk Edward Long Collection, p. 182).

Good impression on contemporary laid paper, trimmed to the platemarks or with thin margins, in good conditions. Very rare as a set.

Bibliografia

Robert-Dumesnil 1835-71, Le Peintre-Graveur Français (IX.121.416-421); B. Barryte, Renaissance Impressions. Sixteenth-Century Mastre Prints from the Kirk Edward Long Collection, p. 182.