Vulcan and Maia 1585

Editor: So, here we have Bartholomeus Spranger's "Vulcan and Maia" from 1585, rendered in oil. It’s currently housed in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. My first impression is that it's rather… theatrical. It has this dramatically posed nude figure and it's difficult to understand how Vulcan and Maia relate to each other from their stiff body language. What's your read on this, from your point of view? Curator: Ah, yes, theatrical indeed! Mannerism is a trip, isn't it? Spranger really leans into those elongated limbs and affected poses. Look how self-consciously 'artistic' it all feels. It’s erotic, no? But also strange; as if the artist only cares about beautiful form. Vulcan looks, honestly, a bit bored and bemused, like he misplaced his car keys. Spranger is also inviting us to play a guessing game... a bit of backstory might help you puzzle through it: Maia, in mythology, is one of the Pleiades, daughter of Atlas, who hooks up with Jupiter. And *their* offspring? Hermes, or Mercury, is the one whom the Romans believed invented money and mercantilism - *quid pro quo* anyone? So where is Zeus then? Does that distant cupid provide the answer, in the far away dark blue scenery behind the two naked figures in front of us? Is that how you’re interpreting it too? Editor: I didn't know any of that context – the Zeus/Jupiter angle is definitely interesting considering the scene! It casts everything in a new light. Like there's more than meets the eye at first. Curator: Exactly! It’s like Spranger’s playing peek-a-boo with us and mythology. It is playful; as if the painter is thinking that a true aesthete is capable of uncovering a painting’s intrinsic mystery. The painting nudges, winks, and hides from the untrained eye. See, the magic is precisely in understanding the story *behind* the figures. That knowledge shifts how we feel when looking at it. Isn’t that interesting? Editor: That’s an amazing, that totally reframes the entire work for me. Thanks!