Landscape with Mercury and Argus
about 1530–1550
- Medium
- Oil on panel
- Dimensions
- 35.6 × 45.7 cm
- Status
- In Museum Collection
- Collect24 Art ID
- C24-136466
A high horizon line provides a bird's-eye view into a vast, lush valley filled with moist air, and gradations of tone and atmospheric perspective define distance. The painting smoothly draws the viewer into the landscape, following an S-shaped journey beginning with the mythological figures at the lower right, continuing on the road at left, and winding back into the distant harbor below. The narrative story in the lower right corner takes place without much fanfare: the mythological figures simply have equal status as compositional elements with the trees and cliffs. Mercury, the standing figure, lulls the seated Argus to sleep with his flute, thus leaving the beautiful white cow--a transformation of the nymph Io--unguarded. This artist was not chiefly interested in the myth, but he or she needed an excuse for painting a landscape. Artists of the 1500s usually presented their landscapes as settings for myths or Biblical stories. Despite the burgeoning market for pictures featuring landscapes, landscape was not yet considered an independent subject.
Provenance
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
Registry history
- about 1530–1550 — Recorded in the collection of J. Paul Getty Museum
Registered on Collect24
The identity of the collector is never published. Purchase information, documents and the exact location of the artwork remain private.
Ownership not yet verified on Collect24
This artwork is documented in the Global Art Registry, but no Collect24 account is linked to it as the owner. Claiming keeps this record and its Collect24 Art ID — nothing is created a second time.
Do you own or represent this artwork? Claim this artwork →Auction history
Public sale records matched to this work. Ownership is never disclosed.
Loading sale records…