Getty Museum
Birth of Bacchus
Creator
Giulio Romano (Giulio Pippi)Italian Artist · 1499–1546
All works by this person →Giulio Romano was so famous in the century after his death that he is the only "modern" artist mentioned by Shakespeare in a play. A Roman native, by about 1515 he was working for Raphael in the Vatican, eventually becoming the master's most trusted aide. Raphael's late works indicate the increasing torsion and tension that Mannerist artists like Giulio would bring to full flower, ideas that Giuli
More on Getty ULAN- Date
- about 1533
- Medium
- Pen and brown ink, brown wash with black chalk underdrawing. Squared in black chalk for transfer
- Culture
- Italian
- Department
- Drawings
- Institution
- Getty Museum
While the winds belch fire, Jupiter opens the mortal womb of his lover Semele with a thunderbolt and snatches forth the baby god Bacchus. His love for Semele had enraged his wife the goddess Juno, who swore to destroy her. Disguised as Semele's old nurse, Juno tricked Semele into asking Jupiter to come to her in all his splendor. Thus Jupiter's godly presence set Semele's frail human body on fire. After Giulio Romano completed this preparatory drawing, it was squared so that his assistants could copy it onto another surface. Inventories show that Giulio made a painting with a similar subject for the ducal palace in Mantua to celebrate the birth of a Gonzaga prince in 1533, the son of Giulio's patron Federico Gonzaga. He may have made this drawing as a study for another painting of the same subject, now in the Getty Museum.
The authoritative record is held by Getty Museum. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.
Get printable QR codesHide QR codes
Open QR codes for this object page and the museum record. They stay collapsed until needed.
Related across collections
Semantically similar works from Getty Museum and other institutions.