Loves of the Gods 1515 - 1565

This engraving of Vertumnus and Pomona was produced by Giovanni Jacopo Caraglio in Italy, sometime in the first half of the 16th century. The image depicts the Roman god Vertumnus, disguised as an old woman, seducing Pomona, a nymph devoted to the care of fruit trees. Caraglio was part of a generation of Italian artists who turned to printmaking as a way to disseminate new ideas. The Loves of the Gods series to which this print belongs reflects a vibrant interest in classical antiquity across elite European society at this time. Printmaking enabled artists to create copies of antique sculptures and disseminate them in a relatively inexpensive way. This print, like others in the series, is based on drawings by the painter Rosso Fiorentino. By studying surviving examples of Caraglio’s prints, alongside letters, inventories, and other archival documents, we can learn more about the important role played by prints in the cultural life of Renaissance Europe.