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Article Mercurio sale in cielo per convocare gli Dei: Amorini nelle vele (Mercury ascends to the heavens to call together the gods: Cupids in the 'sails') by Nicolas Dorigny, history painter, draughtsman, and engraver, 1658-1746 after a fresco by Raphael, painter, draughtsman, sculptor and architect, 1483-1520

after a fresco by Raphael Santi, or Sanzi or Sanzio, called Raphael or Raphael Urbinas, painter, draughtsman, sculptor and architect, 1483-1520

This is a scene from the Cupid and Psyche cycle of frescoes in the Loggia of Cupid and Psyche in the Villa Farnesina in Rome. The frescoes were painted by Raphael and his assistants in 1518, shortly after Raphael was commissioned to do this cycle by Agostino Chigi, a Sienese banker and treasurer to Pope Julius II. The cycle was based on the myth of Cupid and Psyche, whose story is told in the Metamorphoses (also called The Golden Ass) by Apuleius of the 2nd century A. D.[1]

In the actual architectural setting of the loggia which is long and narrow, this scene and others in the cycle are painted on the vaulted areas that support the ceiling. Raphael's design of the room imitates a pergola which is open to the sky and is covered with garlands of fruit. This image of Mercury (holding a posthorn) and two cupids (the one on the right holding panpipes) is on one of the end walls of the loggia. The ceiling itself is decorated with two large "tapestries" - illusionistic paintings of a council of gods and the marriage of Cupid and Psyche - that appear to be suspended from the "pergola."[2]

Nicholas Dorigny, who engraved the Miller print, also created a series of twelve hand-colored etchings of this fresco cycle that were published in Rome by Domenico Rossi in 1693. They have the same dimensions as this etching of Mercury. The frontispiece of this set of etchings states: Psyches et Amoris nuptiae ac fabula a Raphaele Sanctio Urbinate Romae in Farnesianis hortis Transtyberim ad veterum aemulationem ac laudem colorum luminibus expressa a Nicolao Dorigny ad similtudinem delineata et incisa, et a Ioanne Petro Belloriio notis illustrata, ad Serenissimum Principem Ranutium Secundum Parmae ac Placentiae Ducem etc., typis ac sumptibus Dominici de Rubeis Io. Iacobi filii ac heredis, Romae ad templum S. Mariae de Pace edita anno MDCXCIII. The texts in the margins beneath the colored etchings were provided by Gian Pietro Bellori (1615-1690), and they come from The Golden Ass by Apuleuis. Bellori was an antiquarian, art theorist, and biographer of 17th-century Italian artists. He was the curator of the classical collection of Pope Clement X, and he was also the librarian to the exiled Queen Christina of Sweden.[3]

See 77/U, Epithalamium, printed by Io. Iacobi de Rubeis (Gio Giacomo de Rossi, 1627-1691), the father of Dominici de Rubeis (Domenico Rossi). It was Domenico Rossi who published this Miller etching by Dorigny. Here is a translation of the Latin text beneath the image of Mercury in the Miller etching: "Mercury, the messenger god, at the command of Jove [Jupiter] calls together all the gods to an assembly to bring judgment concerning the marriage of Cupid and Psyche. Here the winged son of Venus [Cupid] holds up a bright trophy with vineyard grapes, a drunken Tiger following after, sacred things to this god, the founder of vine and wine. Another boy holds rustic pipes of the rival god Pan with birds eluding an owl in mockery of this god who dared to challenge Apollo in song."[4]

About the Artists

Nicolas Dorigny, history painter, draughtsman, and engraver, 1658-1746
Nicolas Dorigny was born in Paris in 1658 and died in Paris in 1746. He was the second son of Michel Dorigny (1617-1665), a history and portrait painter and engraver, and Nicolas received from him his first artistic lessons. Nicolas began as a painter, but soon devoted himself to engraving. In 1687, he went to Italy and worked with his brother, Louis Dorigny, engraving reproductions of antique statuary which were published by Rossi in 1704. He remained in Italy over twenty years but, by 1711, he traveled to England where, from 1711-1719, he created engravings after Raphael's cartoons for the Acts of the Apostles in Hampton Court. He was knighted by George I for this work in 1720. However, his very weak eyesight caused him to return to France in 1724. He was received as an academician in 1725 and participated in the Salons in Paris of 1739 and 1743. Dorigny produced over 140 etchings and engravings, which included portraits, but most were reproductive prints after artists such as Raphael, Maratti, Domenichino, Guercino and Lanfranco.[5]

Raphael Santi, or Sanzi or Sanzio, called Raphael or Raphael Urbinas, painter, draughtsman, sculptor and architect, 1483-1520
Raphael, along with Leonardo and Michelangelo, was one of the most important painters of the High Renaissance.[6]

Notes

  1. See Latin text External Link online; and a translation by Adlington External Link from 1566. [back to article]
  2. See images of the loggia External Link (scroll down to The Loggia of Psyche). See also a history of the villa External Link and this room. External Link There is also a magnificent presentation on the Villa Farnesina in a small guide book, written in English and Italian, by Gianfranco Malafarina, La Villa Farnesina a Roma: The Villa Farnesina in Rome. Modena: Franco Cosimo Panini, 2003. LC call number: NA7595.R6585V55 2003. It contains beautiful color photographs of the exterior and interior of the villa, with photographic details and descriptions of all of the frescoes in the Villa Farnesina. A short history of the building of the villa by Agostino Chigi, as well as information on the artists he commissioned to paint the decorations, is given on pp. 5-12, with special mention of the Loggia of Cupid and Psyche, on the north side of the villa, on pp. 8, 10-11. A section of color images of each of the frescoes in the Loggia of Cupid and Psyche is found on pp. 24-39, with schematic illustrations of the placement of each fresco in the cycle. Descriptions of each fresco are given on pp. 80-85. In the entry for Mercury, on p. 82, the author gives a different interpretation for this image than that given in the inscription on the Miller etching. Rather than calling the gods to an assembly, this scene is identified as representing Mercury flying down to earth at Jupiter's command to proclaim that Venus will offer seven kisses to the person who can locate Psyche, for Cupid had hidden Psyche because of his mother's (Venus') jealousy of her. [back to article]
  3. For more biographical information on Bellori see an article, "Gian Pietro Bellori" in Wikipedia. External Link For images of each plate of the 1693 set of hand-colored etchings (though not illustrated in color online), see Corpus Belloriano, External Link under Psyches et Amoris. For full catalogue entries of the twelve hand-colored etchings, including the frontispiece, see Raphael Invenit: Stampe da Raffaello nelle collezioni dell'Istituto nazionale per la grafica. Catalogue by Grazia Bernini Pezzini, et al. Rome: Edizioni Quasar, 1985. LC call number: NE662.R36A4. See pages 155-156 for catalogue entries 36 to 47, and see pages 634-635 for illustrations of the twelve etchings. The etching of Mercury is catalogue no. 41, from which the title here has been derived. [back to article]
  4. This translation is courtesy of David Shive, Washington, DC, 29 January 2007. [back to article]
  5. The two sources used here regarding Doriginy's life and work were Bénézit and Grove Art Online/Oxford Art Online. Note that Bénézit gives Nicolas Dorigny's life dates as 1652-1756. Grove Art Online/Oxford Art Online gives his life dates as 1658-1746, as does Raphael Invenit..., pages 155 and 868. See article by Véronique Meyer, "Dorigny," in Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online External Link (subscription only). [back to article]
  6. There are many sources available on Raphael and his life and work. Bénézit is a standard source, but see also two articles on Raphael, one by Nicholas Penny, "Raphael," in Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online; External Link and, "Raphael," by Hugo Chapman in the Oxford Companion to Western Art available via Oxford Art Online External Link (both by subscription only). [back to article]

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  • Mercurio sale in cielo per convocare gli Dei: Amorini nelle vele (Mercury ascends to the heavens to call together the gods: Cupids in the 'sails') by Nicolas Dorigny, history painter, draughtsman, and engraver, 1658-1746 after a fresco by Raphael, painter, draughtsman, sculptor and architect, 1483-1520

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Mercurio sale in cielo per convocare gli Dei: Amorini nelle vele Mercury ascends to the heavens to call together the gods: Cupids in the 'sails' byNicolas Dorigny, history painter, draughtsman, and engraver, -1746 after a fresco by Raphael, painter, draughtsman, sculptor and architect, 1483 to 1520. Web.. https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200182963/.

APA citation style:

Mercurio sale in cielo per convocare gli Dei: Amorini nelle vele Mercury ascends to the heavens to call together the gods: Cupids in the 'sails' byNicolas Dorigny, history painter, draughtsman, and engraver, -1746 after a fresco by Raphael, painter, draughtsman, sculptor and architect, 1483 to 1520. [Web.] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200182963/.

MLA citation style:

Mercurio sale in cielo per convocare gli Dei: Amorini nelle vele Mercury ascends to the heavens to call together the gods: Cupids in the 'sails' byNicolas Dorigny, history painter, draughtsman, and engraver, -1746 after a fresco by Raphael, painter, draughtsman, sculptor and architect, 1483 to 1520. Web.. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200182963/>.