TitleMythological beings
NamesHousselin, Alexis Louis Pierre (Illustrator)Fourquemin, active 1835-1853 (Lithographer)
CollectionWonders: Images of the Ancient World
Mythology (General)
Dates / OriginDate Issued: 1844 - 1861
Library locationsThe Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Picture CollectionShelf locator: PC-WON OX MYT
TopicsJuno (Roman deity)Jupiter (Roman deity)Mercury (Roman deity)Venus (Roman deity)Satyrs (Greek mythology)HaresAphrodite (Greek deity)Hermes (Greek deity)Zeus (Greek deity)Eros (Greek deity)Hera (Greek deity)Argos (Greek mythological character)Io (Greek mythology)Pottery, Greek
GenresPrints
NotesHandwritten: "Io, characterized by the ears and horns of a heifer, is seated on a rock holding a plant as the daughter of Inachus, the river. Io is dressed in a rich peplos decorated with hippocampuses, stars and other ornaments. Above her on a knoll in Nemea valley in Argolis is Argus with eyes on his body. He wears the skin of a bull and holds a pedum or shepherd's crook and seems to defy Mercury who is seated below on a rock. Argus is crowned with a band interlaced with pine. Beside Argus is Pitho, her tunic ornamented the same as Io's. Winged Pothos seems about to help Pitho with the bandelette. Mercury with winged helmet and winged shoes grasps his sword. His tunic covered with a chlaena is of the same decoration as Io's. Two satyrs with leafy crowns, one of which wears a fawn skin and the other plays with a hare and a string of pearls. Above, Venus, accompanied by winged Eros, wears a tunic embroidered with hippocampuses and leans on Jupiter's shoulder. Beside Jupiter wearing a laurel crown and holding a sceptre stands [Juno] with a sceptre. Eileithyia, goddess of birth, standing with her arm on Juno's shoulder, seems to make a sign to Argus to avert menacing danger."Source note: Elite des monuments céramographiques : matériaux pour l'histoire des religions et des moeurs de l'antiquité. (Paris : Leleux, 1844-1861) Lenormant, Charles (1802-1859), Author.
Physical DescriptionLithographsExtent: 33 x 52 cmFoxing on image.
DescriptionIo, daughter of a river god and one of Zeus' love interests, was turned into a cow by Zeus when his wife Hera suspected his cheating. Hera asked for the cow as a gift to test her husband. She set Argus, with his many never-sleeping-all-at-once eyes, as guard over Io, but Zeus sent Hermes to slay Argus and set Io free. This painting is a sort of compressed summation of the story. Pothos is a personification of desire. Ilithyia is a goddess who helped women in childbirth.
Type of ResourceStill image
IdentifiersUniversal Unique Identifier (UUID): 917ad9c0-c5be-012f-1a7e-58d385a7bc34
Rights StatementThe New York Public Library believes that this item is in the public domain under the laws of the United States, but did not make a determination as to its copyright status under the copyright laws of other countries. This item may not be in the public domain under the laws of other countries. Though not required, if you want to credit us as the source, please use the following statement, "From The New York Public Library," and provide a link back to the item on our Digital Collections site. Doing so helps us track how our collection is used and helps justify freely releasing even more content in the future.
Item timeline of events
-
-
-
-