Empedocles / René Boyvin / After Rosso Fiorentino
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About this Item
Record Details
- Accession Number
- 1990/1.189
- Title
- Empedocles
- Artist
- René Boyvin
- Artist Nationality
- French
- Artist Life Dates
- 1525-1598
- Medium and Support
- engraving on laid paper
- Object Creation Date
- 1539-1540
- Object Creation Place
- Europe (continent)
- France (nation)
- Creation Place 1
- Europe (continent)
- Creation Place 2
- France (nation)
- Credit Line
- Museum Purchase
- Dimensions
- 26.3 cm x 16.4 cm (10 3/8 in. x 6 7/16 in.)
- Century
- 16th century
- Primary Object Classification
- Primary Object Type
- intaglio print
- Physical Description
- A man wearing a tunic, cape and boots stands in a minimal landscape. His walking stick seems to be falling away from him at the right as the man points upwards toward the sun's rays, as well as extends his right hand towards fire at the lower left.
- Subject Matter
- The first ancient thinker to believe that the world was composed of four elements: fire, air, earth, and water, Empedocles also thought that fire on the earth endeavored to rejoin the great fire in the sky—the Sun.
- The figure in the engraving can be interpreted as either Empedocles or St. Roch. The inscription at the bottom, “Peregrinus Empedocles” refers to Empedocles as “foreign”, but his garb follows the traditional depictions of Saint Roch: pilgrim’s staff, hat, and cloak. Both the saint and the philosopher were great healers and the conflation of the two figures continues Rosso’s original intention of twin identities.
- Primary Keywords
- capes (outerwear)
- cloaks, inverness
- engravings
- fire
- intaglio printing
- philosopher
- pilgrims
- sun
- Secondary Keywords
- transfer method
- associated concepts
- atmospheric effects
- costume
- costume by form
- descriptors
- earth sciences concepts
- image-making processes and techniques
- intaglio prints
- objects we use
- outerwear
- overcoats
- people and culture
- people and occupations
- physical sciences concepts
- printing
- printing and printing processes and techniques
- prints
- prints by process
- prints by process or technique
- processes and techniques
- processes and techniques by specific type
- religious figures
- scientific concepts
- the natural world
- visual works
- visual works by medium or technique
- worshippers
- Rights
- If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit https://umma.umich.edu/about/services/request-image/ for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.
Technical Details
- Collection
- University of Michigan Museum of Art
- Image Size
- 813 x 1297
- File Size
- 160 KB
- Record
- 1990/1.189
- Link to this Item
-
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1990-sl-1.189/1990_1.189.jpg
Rights and Permissions
Related Links
IIIF
- Manifest
-
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/i/image/api/manifest/musart:1990-SL-1.189:1990_1.189.JPG
Cite this Item
View the Help Guide for more information.
- Full citation
-
"Empedocles; René Boyvin; After Rosso Fiorentino." In the digital collection University of Michigan Museum of Art. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1990-sl-1.189/1990_1.189.jpg. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed May 15, 2024.
