This engraving by Giorgio Ghisi is titled "Allegory of Life (The Dream of Raphael). Look in the details on this close up to see some peculiar animals. To see the entire image in greater detail click the zoom feature on this page.Description of print as taken from above link... "This dazzling print is one of Giorgio Ghisi's greatest accomplishments, although it remains as enigmatic today as it was when he completed it. Clues can be found in the two very different realms depicted here: the man is surrounded by a griffin, scorpion, serpents, and other menacing beasts, while the woman has more benign companions. In one interpretation, she is Reason poised to give hope to the man, whose life has foundered pitifully, as represented by the sinking boat. Meaning may also lie in the plaques beneath the two figures, which allude to a passage on hell in Virgil's Aeneid. Rich in chiaroscuro and ornamental detail, Allegory of Life exemplifies the high-contrast style characteristic of artists from Ghisi's hometown of Mantua. Because the man resembles a figure in Raphael's fresco The School of Athens in the Vatican, this print is also known as The Dream of Raphael."
Click here to see another engraving by Ghisi, "The Vision Of Ezekiel, after Giovanni Battista Bertani."
Ghisi worked with Hieronymus Cock, an artist who made engravings based on the works of Peter Brueghel the Elder and Hieronymus Bosch.
1 comment:
Another "Dream of Raphael" by Marcantonio Raimondi - two sleeping women with Bosch type monsters - can be found at Giornale Nuovo July 7 2005, note also on the same page "The Dream" by Dossi which is very similar. Paul.
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