An Allegory of Immortality

ca. 1540

Giulio Romano Italian, 1499-1546

On View

European: Medieval and Renaissance, Level 2, West Wing

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About the Artwork

One of Raphael's most talented assistants, Giulio Romano left Rome in 1524 to work for Federigo Gonzaga, ruler of Mantua. Romano's paintings contributed to the spread of Roman mannerism, a style which set the artistic standard for the next two decades in Italy. This painting illustrates the sophisticated and obscure symbols that were familiar to the courts of sixteenth-century Italy; to decipher the meanings of the various segments was a challenging game for courtiers. The most easily understood symbols are the phoenix rising out of the flames (a symbol of rebirth) and the serpent devouring its own tail (representing eternity).

Title An Allegory of Immortality

Artwork Date ca. 1540

Artist Giulio Romano

Life Dates 1499-1546

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. Italian

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. ----------

Medium Oil on canvas

Dimensions Unframed: 27 1/2 × 27 1/2 inches (69.8 × 69.8 cm) Framed: 31 3/8 × 31 3/8 × 1 1/2 inches (79.7 × 79.7 × 3.8 cm)

Classification Paintings

Department European Painting

Credit Founders Society Purchase, Mr. and Mrs. Walter Buhl Ford II Fund

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 66.41

Markings

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Provenance

1693, until mid-18th century, Borghese collection (Palazzo Borghese, Rome, Italy);
until 1851, Vincenzo Camuccini [d. 1844] (Rome, Italy);
1851-1865, purchased by Algernon Percy, 4th Duke of Northumberland [d. 1865] (Alnwick Castle, England);
1865-1867, by descent to George Percy, 5th Duke of Northumberland and 2nd Earl of Beverly [d. 1867] (Alnwick Castle, England);
1867-1899, by descent to Hugh Algernon George Percy, 6th Duke of Northumberland [d. 1899] (Alnwick Castle, England);
1899-1930, by descent to Alan Ian Percy, 8th Duke of Northumberland [d. 1930] (Alnwick Castle, England);
1930-1940, by descent to Henry George Alan Percy, 9th Duke of Northumberland [d. 1940] (Alnwick Castle, England);
1940-ca. 1962, Hugh Algernon Percy, 10th Duke of Northumberland (Alnwick Castle, England);
1962, (Th. Agnew & Sons, London, England);
until 1966, (Paul Ganz, New York, New York, USA);
1966-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

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Exhibition History

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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

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Published References

Waterhouse, Ellis K. “Exhibitions of Old Masters at Newcastle and Perth.” Burlington Magazine 93 (1951): pp. 261-265, p. 261.

Pictures from Collections in Northumberland. Exh. cat., Kings College. Newcastle-on-Tyne, 1951, p. 11, pl. V, p. 14, no. 36e.

Hartt, Frederick. Giulio Romano. New Haven, 1958, pp. 219-222, pl. 469.

Agnew's Summer Exhibition of Old Masters. Exh. cat. London, 1962, no. 25.

Pergola, P. della. “L'inventario borghese del 1693 (II)” Arte antica e moderna 28 (1964): p. 454.

“Annual Report: Accessions.” Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts 46, no. 1 (1967): 18-26, pp. 19, 26 (ill.)

Johnson, W. McAllister. “Giulio Romano's Allegory of Immortality Reconsidered.” Art Quarterly 32, no. 2 (1969): pp. 2-22 (ill.).

Souchal, Francois. “Reviews.” Gazette des beaux-arts; Chonique des arts 1211 (December 1969): p. 19.

“Review: Johnson, W. McAllister, ‘Giulio Romano's Allegory of Immortality Reconsidered.’ Art Quarterly.” Shakespearean Research and Opportunities 5-6 (1970): p. 239.

Fredericksen, B. and F. Zeri. Census of Pre-19th Century Italian Paintings in North American Collections. Cambridge, MA, 1972, p. 94.

Acta historiae artium, Volume 29 (1983): p. 101.

Giulio Romano. Exh. cat. Mantua, 1989, p. 438 (ill.).

Fürstenhöfe der Renaissance: Giulio Romano und die klassische Tradition. Exh. cat., Kunsthistorisches Museum, Neue Berg. Vienna, 1989, p. 176, pl. IV.96.

Carlson, Victor. Italian, French, English, and Spanish Drawings and Watercolors: Sixteenth Through Eighteenth Centuries. Detroit, 1992, p. 46.

Bucher, Gisela. Weltliche Genüsse: ikonologische Studien zu Tobias Stimmer (1539-1584). Bern, 1992, p. 160.

Battistini, M. Symbols and Allegories in Art, trans. S. Sartarelli. A Guide to Imagery. Los Angeles, 2005, pp. 12-13, (ill.).

Crenshaw, Paul. Discovering the Great Masters: The Art Lover’s Guide to Understanding Symbols in Paintings. New York, 2009, pp. 15, 178.

Kren, Thomas, Jill Burke and Stephen J. Campbell eds. The Renaissance Nude. Los Angeles, 2018, p. 153, note 15.

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Catalogue Raisoneé

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Credit Line for Reproduction

Giulio Romano, An Allegory of Immortality, ca. 1540, oil on canvas. Detroit Institute of Arts, Founders Society Purchase, Mr. and Mrs. Walter Buhl Ford II Fund, 66.41.