Allegory of Life: The Dream of Raphael
Artist
Giorgio Ghisi
(Italian, 1520 - 1582)
CultureItalian
Date1561
MediumEngraving
DimensionsOverall: 14 7/8 x 21 3/8 in. (37.8 x 54.3 cm)
InscribedThe print carries the following inscriptions:;
On the tablet, bottom left:;
RAPHALEIS URBINATIS INVENTUM / PHILIPPUS DATUS ANIMI GRATIA / FIERI IUSSIT. ;
(Raphael of Urbino invented it. Philippus Datus commissioned it for the good of his soul.);
On the tablet at center, near the man's feet: ;
SEDET AETERNUM / QUE SEDEBIT INFOELIX (The unhappy one sits and will sit forever [Aeneid VI.617].);
On the tablet, bottom right:;
TU NE CEDE MALIS: SED CONTRA AUDENTIOR ITO (Do not yield to adversities, but go out to meet them bravely [Aeneid IV.951].);
On the tablet in the boat:;
GIORGIUS / GHISI MAT / F.1.5.6.1. (Giorgio Ghisis of Mantua made it in 1561.);
Credit LineMuseum purchase, Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. Art Purchase Fund
Object number2005.19
Not on view
DescriptionThis is an engraving of an allegory of life. On the left side of the river, an old man surrounded by menacing animals leans against a rock, resting his head on his hands in an age-old gesture of melancholy and despair. He is beset by every form of foul weather and ominous astrological event. The Latin inscription at his feet -"the unhappy one sits and will sit forever". On the opposite bank, a woman carrying a spear strides toward the man through a paradise landscape blessed with fair weather and strewn with hopeful, Christian symbols. The inscription at her feet-"Do not yield to adversities, but go out to meet them bravely." -emphasizes her active virtue and stands in contrast with the man's despair. The print has traditionally had two subtitles-The Dream of Raphael and The Melancholy of Michelangelo.ProvenanceHill Stone Gallery; Chrysler Museum of Art purchase, Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. Art Purchase Fund, 2005. Published ReferencesA.Bartsch, _Le Peintre-Graveur_ Vol. 15 (Leipzig, J. A. Barth, 1854-76), 412-413. H. Zerner, "Ghist et la gravure manieriste a Mantoue," _L'Oeil_ 88 (1962), 26-32. Suzanne Boorsch, Michal and R.E. Lewis, _The Engravings of Giorgio Ghisi_ (New York, 1985), 114-120. Jeff Harrison, _Collecting with Vision: Treasures From the Chrysler Museum of Art_ (London: D. Giles Ltd., 2007), 89, fig. 104. ISBN: 978-0-940744-72-1
