Apollo, Neptune, Pluto and Athena. From a series of four engravings: Gods and goddesses in roundels

This engraving depicts Apollo on the far left, Nepture who holds a fork, Pluto who wears a helmet, while Athena sits naked at the right. It is from a series of four prints, Gods and godesses in roundels. Te Papa also has Juno seated on a cloud (1910-0001-1/78-80). Its relief like appearance is not by chance: it relates to Francesco Primaticcio's designs for the ceiling of the Galerie d'Ulysse at the Palace of Fontainebleau, commissioned by King François (Francis) I of France. Ghisi probably worked from Primaticcio's preparatory drawings and not from the ceiling itself.

Giorgio Ghisi (1520-1582) was a leading printmaker of the period who came from Mantua and, like Primaticcio, worked in France.

This engraving is in the so-called King George IV album of Old Master prints, acquired by the Dominion Museum, forerunner of Te Papa, in 1910.

See: http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objec tId=1466572&partId=1&searchText=ghisi+apollo&page=1

Dr Mark Stocker   Curator, Historical International Art       March 2017