Mars Bound by Cupid c. 1515 - 1520

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print, drypoint, engraving

allegory

print

figuration

drypoint

italian-renaissance

nude

italy

engraving

Dimensions: 6 7/8 x 5 3/16 in. (17.46 x 13.18 cm)

This print, titled "Mars Bound by Cupid," presents us with an intriguing composition rendered through delicate lines and contrasting shades. The eye is drawn to the defeated figure of Mars, the god of war, contrasted against Cupid who has bound the mighty warrior. The structure of the piece plays with semiotic inversions. Traditional symbols of military strength, such as helmets and weapons at the bottom left, are overturned and Cupid is represented as dominating Mars. This subverts conventional power dynamics. Notice how the artist destabilizes our expectations, questioning established notions of heroism, strength, and vulnerability, reflecting broader cultural shifts. The artwork invites ongoing interpretation of these cultural codes and signs.

Comments

minneapolisinstituteofart over 1 year ago

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This idiosyncratic artist gets his name from the one engraving he dated. Despite his anonymity, the Master of the Year 1515 had a deep well of personality. Eschewing the accepted religious and moralizing themes of the day, he concentrated on wit and whimsy. In Mars Bound by Cupid, a mock-serious Cupid incapacitates the god of war, who is seated ignominiously on a heap of his own armor. The master is known for using drypoint more often than any other sixteenth-century artist, a technique that accounts for the soft, lush ink pooling in the shadows in this remarkably fresh print.