Allegory of the Arts

Giovanni Andrea Podestà
Italy
1608 – c.1674

Allegory of the Arts
1640
etching, engraving on paper
Place made
Rome
Medium
etching, engraving on paper
State
B.XX.171.5; TIB 4503.005 S1
Dimensions
26.2 x 39.0 cm (plate & sheet)
Credit line
Bequest of David Murray 1908
Accession number
084G2345
Signature and date
Not signed. Dated in plate bot.c., "1640".
Catalogue raisonne
B.XX.171.5; TIB 4503.005 S1
Media category
Print
Collection area
European prints

  • WALL LABEL: A Beautiful Line: Italian prints from Mantegna to Piranesi, 2012

     

    Giovanni Andrea Podestà was born in Genoa and trained there before moving to Rome around 1630. He was immediately drawn to the city’s classical heritage, and his interest in antiquity may have led to his acquaintance with Cassiano dal Pozzo, one of the most learned patrons in Rome. It is likely Podestà was inspired to take up etching to follow the example of Testa and Castiglione. This print, according to the Latin inscription, depicts an allegory about the power of the arts to preserve memory (and thus life) over death. These two forces are divided between the left and right of the composition.

     

    Maria Zagala, Associate Curator of Prints, Drawings & Photographs

  • A beautiful line. Italian prints from Mantegna to Piranesi

    Art Gallery of South Australia, 20 August 2010 – 31 October 2010
  • [Book] 1990. The Illustrated Bartsch 45 (Commentary). Italian Masters of the Seventeenth Century.
  • [Book] Zagala, Maria. 2010. A Beautiful Line : Italian prints from Mantegna to Piranesi.