Venus and Cupid, two other goddesses and a putto, from a series of eight compositions after Francesco Primaticcio's designs for the ceiling of the Ulysses Gallery (destroyed 1738–39) at Fontainebleau

Art Historical Context

This enchanting engraving, titled *Venus and Cupid, other goddesses and a put*, captures a graceful assembly of mythological figures from a lost decorative scheme. Created by the master engraver Giorgio Ghisi the 1560s after designs by Francesco Primaticcio, forms part of a series of eight compositions originally intended for the ceiling of the Gallery at the Palace of Fontainebleau.aticcio, a leading Mannerist artist at the French royal court, infused these works with elegant, elongated forms and dynamic poses characteristic of the Fontainebleau School, blending Italian sophistication with French opulence under King Francis I. The Ulysses Gallery, adorned in the mid-16th century, epitomized Renaissance grandeur before its tragic destruction in 1738–39. Ghisi's meticulous engraving technique—using fine lines to convey texture, light, and movement—preserved these ephemeral frescoes, making elite court art accessible to collectors across Europe. Trimmed to an oval format (7 1/4 x 9 5/16 in.), this intimate print highlights Venus, Cupid, attendant goddesses, and a playful putto, evoking themes of love, beauty, and divine whimsy central to Mannerist iconography. Today, housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department, it offers a window into the School of Fontainebleau's cultural legacy, where prints democratized the splendor of royal patronage.

About the Artist

Giorgio Ghisi|Francesco Primaticcio · 1520–1582

Giorgio Ghisi (c. 1520–1582) was one of the most accomplished engravers of the Italian Renaissance, renowned for translating the monumental compositions of Raphael, Giulio Romano, and Michelangelo into the exacting medium of the burin. Born in Mantua, he trained in an environment shaped by the legacy of Giulio Romano's decoration of the Palazzo del Te, and the grandeur of that Mannerist tradition ...