2-748-552 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Feast of the Gods, c. 1571-1578. Art and architecture produced across sixteenth-century Italy often displayed a keen interest in classical themes and figures, something which intensified owing to displaced Roman artists after the Sack of Rome in 1527. Jacopo Sansovino was one such influential artist; after relocating to Venice he quickly became one of the most sought after sculptors of his day. Danese Cattaneo and Alessandro Vittoria, two artists to which this bronze relief has often been attributed, both apprenticed under Sansovino. The figures on this work display the emergence of the Renaissance Mannerist style, which often emphasized dramatic, twisted forms. While the subject of this relief has been a matter of debate since its acquisition in 1952, four of the figures can be identified by their attributes: Diana wears her crescent headpiece, Mars holds his shield at his side, and Hermes wears his winged helmet and stands behind Mars. Jupiter, king of the gods, wields his thunderbolt overhead. Naming the other figures is more problematic. The young man to the left of Diana has often been identified as her brother Apollo, but the absence of clear attributes hinders a precise identification. Likewise, the reclining woman at the bottom right has obvious connections with the sea, and so has been variously identified as Venus and Thetis-Venus was born from sea foam, and Thetis was an ocean nymph.