Giulio Romano: Pittore, architetto, artista universale Studi e ricerche. Atti del convegno internazionale a cura di P. Assmann, S. L'Occaso, M.C. Loi, F. Moschini, A. Russo e M. Zurla, 2020
Giulia Romano’s Sleeping Polyphemus, a fresco painting on the northeast lunette of the Garden Log... more Giulia Romano’s Sleeping Polyphemus, a fresco painting on the northeast lunette of the Garden Loggia in the Villa Madama at Rome, is currently in a bad state of conservation. However, it is possible to examine the work and its iconography as Giulio originally intended by reference to a drawing now preserved in the Louvre Museum (inv. 3672). This drawing, from the collection of Everhard Jabach (1618-1695), is regarded as the first visual document of the fresco, as its graphic manner indicates that it was copied from Giulio’s lost preparatory drawing. In the drawing, the little satyr measuring the giant’s big toe references Timanthes’ painting of the Cyclops as described by Pliny in his Natural History. While the sleeping Cyclops refers to the story of Odysseus, I would argue that the use of fire in the composition also alludes to the blind love of Polyphemus for Galatea. Seen in this context, there is a clear iconographic relation to the other decorations in the Loggia.
Giulio Romano: Pittore, architetto, artista universale Studi e ricerche. Atti del convegno internazionale a cura di P. Assmann, S. L'Occaso, M.C. Loi, F. Moschini, A. Russo e M. Zurla, 2020
Giulia Romano’s Sleeping Polyphemus, a fresco painting on the northeast lunette of the Garden Log... more Giulia Romano’s Sleeping Polyphemus, a fresco painting on the northeast lunette of the Garden Loggia in the Villa Madama at Rome, is currently in a bad state of conservation. However, it is possible to examine the work and its iconography as Giulio originally intended by reference to a drawing now preserved in the Louvre Museum (inv. 3672). This drawing, from the collection of Everhard Jabach (1618-1695), is regarded as the first visual document of the fresco, as its graphic manner indicates that it was copied from Giulio’s lost preparatory drawing. In the drawing, the little satyr measuring the giant’s big toe references Timanthes’ painting of the Cyclops as described by Pliny in his Natural History. While the sleeping Cyclops refers to the story of Odysseus, I would argue that the use of fire in the composition also alludes to the blind love of Polyphemus for Galatea. Seen in this context, there is a clear iconographic relation to the other decorations in the Loggia.
Uploads
Papers by Maria Fukada
In the drawing, the little satyr measuring the giant’s big toe references Timanthes’ painting of the Cyclops as described by Pliny in his Natural History. While the sleeping Cyclops refers to the story of Odysseus, I would argue that the use of fire in the composition also alludes to the blind love of Polyphemus for Galatea. Seen in this context, there is a clear iconographic relation to the other decorations in the Loggia.
In the drawing, the little satyr measuring the giant’s big toe references Timanthes’ painting of the Cyclops as described by Pliny in his Natural History. While the sleeping Cyclops refers to the story of Odysseus, I would argue that the use of fire in the composition also alludes to the blind love of Polyphemus for Galatea. Seen in this context, there is a clear iconographic relation to the other decorations in the Loggia.