The Death of Procris

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Photograph by John Bentham.
The Death of Procris
Photograph by John Bentham.
After (Italian, 1499 – 1546)
Artist/Maker (Italian, 1520 – 1582)
Publisher (French, active Rome, 1562 – 1622)
Datec. 1540 (printed later)
MediumEngraving
DimensionsSheet (trimmed to edges of plate): 15 1/2 × 22 1/16 in. (39.4 × 56 cm)
Credit LinePurchase
Object number1992.51
Not on view
DescriptionGiorgio Ghisi was an important engraver of the mid-sixteenth century who documented the work and concepts of many well-known painters of the generation before him. Other than church commissions, the primary market for paintings during this period was wealthy families and individuals, so artists’ work circulated more widely through prints, especially in humanist and artistic circles. Ghisi modeled this print, in reverse, on a drawing by the Mannerist painter Giulio Romano, an apprentice to Raphael and a resident of Mantua from 1524 until his death in 1546. Romano was a powerful artistic influence on Ghisi during his early career, and the younger artist made a number of reproductive prints after his fellow Mantuan. In this case, Romano’s drawing—which survives in the Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main—was one of a set depicting scenes from the ancient Roman poet Ovid’s Metamorphoses, a poem recounting approximately 250 mythological tales of metamorphosis. The drawings may have been intended as tapestry designs for the wealthy Mantuan patron Federico Gonzaga. The figure at the center of the story, and slightly off center in the composition, is the mortally wounded Procris. She is held by her husband, Cephalus, who visibly mourns her, and surrounded by Cupid and numerous satyrs and nymphs arranged in a dramatic pyramidal composition. In the poses and arrangement of the figures, Romano borrowed from and quoted ancient Roman sculptures and high-relief friezes on sarcophagi, respectively. In the background, Aurora, goddess of the dawn, arrives on a chariot, signaling the arrival of morning. (SOURCE: Alcauskas, INNOVATIVE APPROACHES, HONORED TRADITIONS, 2017)

Additional Details

Exhibition History 2024-2025
Clinton, NY. The Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art, Hamilton College. "Menagerie: Animals in Art from the Wellin Museum," September 7, 2024 –June 8, 2025 (no cat.).

2017
Clinton, NY (Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art, Hamilton College). "Innovative Approaches, Honored Traditions: The Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art at Five Years, Highlights from the Permanent Collection," September 9 - December 10, 2017 (cat. no. 23, illus.).
Provenance 1992: Hamilton College (Fred L. Emerson Gallery), by purchase from Robert Dance, Inc., New York.
Published References Katherine D. Alcauskas, INNOVATIVE APPROACHES, HONORED TRADITIONS: THE RUTH AND ELMER WELLIN MUSEUM OF ART AT FIVE YEARS, HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE PERMANENT COLLECTION (Clinton, NY: Wellin Museum of Art, 2017), p. 86.
Signature Not signed.
Inscribed "IULIUS ROMANUS INVENTOR / * G * MAE * [Giulio Romano inventor]" in plate at lower center; "PROCRIN ERITREI REGIS ATHENIENSIUM / FILIA, ET CEPHALI UXOR, AB EODEM VIRO INSCIO / OVIDII 7o. TRANSFORMATIONUM" in plate at upper center; "Phillippus Thomassinus excudit Romae [Philippe Thomassin printed this in Rome]" in plate at lower left center.
Veduta di un gran Masso, Avanzo del Sepolcro della Familia d' Metelli sulla Via Appia (View of a large structure, remains of the Tomb of the Metelli on the Appian Way)
Veduta di un gran Masso, Avanzo del Sepolcro della Familia d' Metelli sulla Via Appia (View of a large structure, remains of the Tomb of the Metelli on the Appian Way)
Giovanni Battista Piranesi
Date: c. 1752-1756
Medium: Etching
Object number: 1986.5
Firenze - R. Galleria Uffizi. Ritratto di Giulio Pippi
Firenze - R. Galleria Uffizi. Ritratto di Giulio Pippi
Giulio Romano
Date: 1875-1900
Medium: Albumen print
Object number: S2018.2.91
Firenze - R. Galleria Pitti. Il ballo di Apollo con le Muse
Firenze - R. Galleria Pitti. Il ballo di Apollo con le Muse
Giulio Romano
Date: 1875-1900
Medium: Albumen print
Object number: S2018.2.135
Roma - Galleria dell'Acc. di S. Luca. La Galatea (G. Romano copiò da Raffaello)
Roma - Galleria dell'Acc. di S. Luca. La Galatea (G. Romano copiò da Raffaello)
Giulio Romano
Date: 1875-1900
Medium: Albumen print
Object number: S2018.2.774
Marsh with Two Herons
Marsh with Two Herons
Clarence Joseph Tibado
Date: 1953
Medium: Pastel on paper
Object number: 1971.20
Artwork is in the public domain. Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Museum of Art at Hamilton…
Model of the surviving columns of the Temple of Castor and Pollux
Unknown artist
Date: likely late 19th century
Medium: Bronze
Object number: 1943.195
Artwork is in the public domain. Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Museum of Art at Hamilton…
Model of the surviving corner of the Temple of Vespasian and Titus
Unknown artist
Date: likely late 19th century
Medium: Bronze
Object number: 1943.191
Artwork is in the public domain. Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Museum of Art at Hamilton…
Model of the surviving columns of the Temple of Castor and Pollux
Unknown artist
Date: likely late 19th century
Medium: Soapstone
Object number: 1943.194a-b
Artwork is in the public domain. Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Museum of Art at Hamilton…
Model of the surviving corner of the Temple of Vespasian and Titus
Unknown artist
Date: likely late 19th century
Medium: Soapstone
Object number: 1943.192a-b
Photo by John Bentham.
The Rhinoceros
Albrecht Dürer
Date: 1515 (printed c. 1620)
Medium: Woodcut
Object number: 1994.62
Photograph by John Bentham.
Figure study
Date: probably 17th century
Medium: Pen and ink on paper
Object number: 1996.15.2
Photograph by John Bentham.
Oil lamp with raised geometric pattern
Date: 6th-8th century C.E.
Medium: Terracotta
Object number: 2015.6.49