Leda and the swan. Etching by L. Roccheggiani, ca. 1811.

  • Roccheggiani, Lorenzo, active 1804-1817.
Date:
[1811?]
Reference:
2856125i
  • Pictures

About this work

Description

According to the lettering, the woman in the centre is Leda with the swan, the man on the left is Jupiter in his own form, Cupid flies above with his bow and arrows, and the man on the right is lifting Leda to her feet; but the significance of the figures is "mysterious". The composition is identified as derived from a relief on a funerary urn of the emperor Severus Alexander and his motherJulia Avita Mamaea, possibly in the Barberini library. Another part of the relief is shown in Tav. XXI (Wellcome Library no. 2856124i)

Publication/Creation

[Milano] : [Presso li Fratt. Vallardi], [1811?]

Physical description

1 print : etching ; platemark 18 x 29.7 cm

Contributors

Lettering

Leda col cigno e avanti di lei Giove nella propria sua forma. Cupido che coll'arco e le frecce le sta volando di sopra, ed un giovine che loa prende pel braccio come mostrando di volerla alzare in piedi. Non sarebbe facile di spiegar propriamente le altre figure della precedente tavola; come neppure di queste si puo dire che abbiamo relazione coll'indicato sepolcro: ma devono prendersi in un senso misterioso. Roccheggiani dis. e inc. Bears number: T. XXII

Creator/production credits

Roccheggiani designed and executed etchings in which lost antiquities shown in ancient bas-reliefs etc. were reconstructed as if they were the originals. They are shown together with other antiquities that had survived in museums or in private collections (often exported from Rome and thus no longer available there)

Reference

Wellcome Collection 2856125i

Type/Technique

Languages

Subjects

Where to find it

  • LocationStatusAccess
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