{"id":946,"date":"2011-06-09T11:22:06","date_gmt":"2011-06-09T15:22:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.vassar.edu\/rosso2\/"},"modified":"2013-06-04T16:26:59","modified_gmt":"2013-06-04T20:26:59","slug":"ii-south-the-loss-of-perpetual-youth","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/rosso\/catalogues\/paintings\/p-22\/ii-south-the-loss-of-perpetual-youth\/","title":{"rendered":"P.22 II South: Loss of Perpetual Youth"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

P.22 II South: The Loss of Perpetual Youth<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/strong>The central fresco: c. 1.60 x c. 2.575 m.<\/p>\n

Fig.P.22, II S a<\/a> bw, whole wall
\nFig.P.22, II S b<\/a> detail center
\nFig.P.22, II S c<\/a> detail right
\nFig.P.22, II S d<\/a> detail left
\nFig.P.22, II S e<\/a> full center
\nFig.P.22, II S f<\/a> bw, deceit at right
\nFig.P.22, II S g<\/a> bw, allegory at left
\nFig.P.22, II S, Tapestry, a<\/a> bw, full tapestry
\nFig.P.22, II S, Tapestry, b<\/a> bw, tapestry deceit<\/p>\n

The four identical stucco vases that surmount the two pediments are different from those of four different designs in the Vienna tapestry (see below), but this need not mean that the vases in the gallery were as they appear in the tapestry which contains several other provable variations. \u00a0Furthermore, the tapestry shows stucco masks at the lower left and right where there are small shields in the gallery. \u00a0The predominant colors of the central fresco are dark wine red, dark green, grey, tan and white, with many of the drapery passages very bleached out.<\/p>\n

PREPARATORY DRAWING: D.56<\/a> (COPY). \u00a0Paris, Biblioth\u00e8que nationale, B.5 r\u00e9serve, Dessins de l’\u00c9cole de Fontainebleau, Vol. I, no. 19. \u00a0Allegory of Deceit<\/em>. \u00a0Circular. \u00a0This copy of a lost drawing by Rosso for the round painting at the right of this wall is missing a number of details that appear in the fresco, most especially the bees that fly around Hecate\u2019s head. \u00a0The architecture is more schematic and is also different in a few details; its proportions are not quite the same as they are in the fresco. \u00a0The lost drawing must have been followed by a cartoon that incorporated the changes that appear in the fresco, changes that can be recognized as having been made by Rosso himself. \u00a0Not only the bees in the fresco, which are iconographically significant, are attributable to him, but even such a detail as the man fleeing under the arch would seem his addition, and not an assistant\u2019s, because it, too, elaborates the subject of the scene.<\/p>\n

TAPESTRY: Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum, CV\/5. 325 x 620 (for media, see below). \u00a0Although faithful in most respects, the tapestry (Fig.P.22, II S,Tapestry, a<\/a>; Fig.P.22, II S,Tapestry, b<\/a>) changes the color and elaborates with a variety of details the frescoed parts of this wall. \u00a0For example, the standing woman with her face in profile just left of center has drapery over one of her shoulders, although in the gallery she is totally nude to just below her breasts. \u00a0The two putti above overlap the lateral beam, the pug dog below has a long leash, and the central scene, besides having additional flowers and grasses and more patterned draperies, also has books and a wind instrument at the lower left that do not appear in the fresco. \u00a0The most significant change is the appearance of the monster at the right which, looking reptilian and hence more like what seems to be intended by Nicander\u2019s tale, is quite unlike Rosso\u2019s vaguely swan-like beast, albeit with a leonine leg and a somewhat snake-like head. \u00a0The change of this monster suggests a slightly different interpretation of the subject from what appears in Rosso\u2019s fresco, where the reptilian character of Nicander\u2019s beast appears to be mitigated. \u00a0In the small circular area beneath the central picture the small animal has been identified as a chameleon by L\u00f6vgren, 1951, 72, Pressouyre, 1972, 109-111, and by Chastel, 1972, 152. \u00a0If this is true, and it is not clear that it is, then it is a change from the baby salamander that appears in the gallery (see Panofsky, 1958, 148-149), and hence also an alteration to the meaning of the decoration of this wall. \u00a0Above the salamander at the top of the tapestry there is a large repair that may indicate that something has been removed here (Pressouyre suggested a crown), although nothing now appears above this salamander in the gallery.<\/p>\n

At the upper right of the central picture the group of figures before a flaming altar is gray in a blue landscape. \u00a0Another gray group before a flaming altar is in the very center of the scene. \u00a0The background is blue, the architecture gray-tan. \u00a0The ground and plants are green. \u00a0In the very center of the picture the woman on the gray donkey is blond. \u00a0Around her body is light orange-tan drapery. \u00a0Blue drapery falls over her left leg. \u00a0A white cloth with gold ornament is thrown over the saddle, beneath which, visible at the right is a red striped saddle blanket. \u00a0The sleeping nude woman at the lower left has red drapery shot with gold in front of her. \u00a0The pillow behind her goes from blue to white to gold and has pink tassels. \u00a0The pillow beneath the red cloth is white with gold and blue, and the instruments are white and gold. \u00a0Below her the books are pink, green-blue, blue, and red-brown. \u00a0The fourth, slightly open blue book seems to have music written on the one page that is visible. \u00a0Behind the sleeping woman the youth is dressed in light and dark green and he wears a red band around his light brown hair. \u00a0The little boy holds up his blue drapery and holds in it and in his arms various small pink, yellow, and blue flowers. \u00a0The standing woman facing forward just left of center has a bit of red ribbon in her blond hair; there is dark green drapery over one of her shoulders. \u00a0Her garment is tan-orange shot with gold and has a light blue sash at the hips; the skirt is blue but largely covered with a gold pattern. \u00a0At the right the serpent has a gray and brown body, a green neck, and light pink, blue, and green wings. \u00a0The old man behind the serpent with his hand up to his eye wears red drapery; the old woman to the right is dressed in blue; the next old woman has a gray cloak worn over a tan undergarment with red at its edges. \u00a0Behind is a fourth figure with a red cap.<\/p>\n

At the top of the tapestry the putto at the left has red drapery behind him; behind the other putto the drapery is green. \u00a0The circular scenes have gray architecture and flesh tones, and blue skies. \u00a0A few details are blue and red.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The central fresco: c. 1.60 x c. 2.575 m. Fig.P.22, II S a bw, whole wall Fig.P.22, II S b detail center Fig.P.22, II S c detail right Fig.P.22, II S d detail left Fig.P.22, II S e full center Fig.P.22, II S f bw, deceit at right Fig.P.22, II S g bw, allegory at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"parent":908,"menu_order":11,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-946","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/rosso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/946","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/rosso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/rosso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/rosso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/rosso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=946"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/rosso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/946\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1888,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/rosso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/946\/revisions\/1888"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/rosso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/rosso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}