' Jupiter and Io '
(c. 1530)
Antonio Allegri da Correggio
(August 1489 – March 5, 1534)
Antonio Allegri da Correggio (August 1489 – March 5, 1534), usually known as
Correggio (Italian: [korˈreddʒo]), was the foremost painter of the Parma school of the Italian Renaissance, who was responsible for some of the most vigorous and sensuous works of the 16th century. In his use of dynamic composition, illusionistic perspective and dramatic foreshortening, Correggio prefigured the Rococo art of the 18th century.
The scene of
Jupiter and Io is inspired by Ovid's classic
Metamorphoses. Io, daughter of Inachus, the first king of Argos, is seduced by Jupiter (Zeus in Greek), who hides behind the dunes to avoid hurting the jealous Juno (Hera in Greek). Jupiter was often tempted by other women and took on various disguises in order to cover his various escapades, one time taking the form of a swan, another time of an eagle, and in this painting he is not becoming something else so much as enveloping himself in a dark cloud, even though it is bright daylight. He is embracing the nymph, his face barely visible above hers. She is pulling Jupiter's vague, smoky hand towards herself with barely contained sensuality; this is a sensual painting, depicting one of the many loves of the god. Indeed, the Duke of Mantua, Federico Gonzaga, wanted to place the painting and its companion pieces in a room dedicated to the loves of Jupiter.
Noteworthy is the contrast between the evanescent figure of the immaterial Jupiter, and the sensual substance of Io's body, shown lost in an erotic rapture which anticipates the works of Bernini and Rubens.
Absulutly exquisite, beautiful, very erotic, so very soft