The Demi-Gods Ceiling is a painted coffered ceiling by the Italian Renaissance master

Pinturicchio Pinturicchio, or Pintoricchio (, ; born Bernardino di Betto; 1454–1513), also known as Benetto di Biagio or Sordicchio, was an Italian painter during the Renaissance. He acquired his nickname (meaning "little painter") because of his sma ...

, dating to c. 1490 and housed in the last of the suite of reception rooms in the

Palazzo dei Penitenzieri Palazzo Della Rovere is a palace in Rome, Italy, facing Via della Conciliazione. It is also known as Palazzo dei Penitenzieri. History The construction of the palace was started in 1480 by cardinal Domenico della Rovere, a relative of Pope Sixtu ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. It comprises 63 octagonal

coffer A coffer (or coffering) in architecture is a series of sunken panels in the shape of a square, rectangle, or octagon in a ceiling, soffit or vault. A series of these sunken panels was often used as decoration for a ceiling or a vault, al ...

s in gilded wood, decorated with allegoric and mythological figures on a faux-mosaic background, and painted on paper. Pinturicchio, soffitto dei semidei, 1490, roma, palazzo dei penitenzieri 02 fortuna

Pinturicchio, soffitto dei semidei, 1490, roma, palazzo dei penitenzieri 02 fortuna

The work was commissioned by Cardinal Domenico della Rovere, at the time patron of the young Pinturicchio.

Description

The figures of the ceiling were inspired by medieval bestiaries and '' libri monstruorum'', which contained hybrid figures such as

sphinx A sphinx ( , grc, σφίγξ , Boeotian: , plural sphinxes or sphinges) is a mythical creature with the head of a human, the body of a lion, and the wings of a falcon. In Greek tradition, the sphinx has the head of a woman, the haunches o ...

es, armed tritons, satyrs, dragons, sirens and centaurs. The theme has hidden philosophical and humanist meanings, perhaps suggested by the literati who formed the cardinal's court. In the center is the genealogical tree of the Della Rovere with two peacocks, which can be seen also at the corners. One of the representations is a nude allegory of Fortune, who rides a dolphin, differently from contemporary Florentine depictions in which she is portrayed on a small boat. There is also a

putto A putto (; plural putti ) is a figure in a work of art depicted as a chubby male child, usually naked and sometimes winged. Originally limited to profane passions in symbolism,Dempsey, Charles. ''Inventing the Renaissance Putto''. University of ...

on two

sea horse A seahorse (also written ''sea-horse'' and ''sea horse'') is any of 46 species of small marine fish in the genus ''Hippocampus''. "Hippocampus" comes from the Ancient Greek (), itself from () meaning "horse" and () meaning "sea monster" or " ...

s going in different directions, a

Neoplatonic Neoplatonism is a strand of Platonic philosophy that emerged in the 3rd century AD against the background of Hellenistic philosophy and religion. The term does not encapsulate a set of ideas as much as a chain of thinkers. But there are some i ...

allegory of the human soul, divided between Good and Evil, according to

Marsilio Ficino Marsilio Ficino (; Latin name: ; 19 October 1433 – 1 October 1499) was an Italian scholar and Catholic priest who was one of the most influential humanist philosophers of the early Italian Renaissance. He was an astrologer, a reviver ...

's 1475 comments to

Plato Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institutio ...

's ''

Symposium In ancient Greece, the symposium ( grc-gre, συμπόσιον ''symposion'' or ''symposio'', from συμπίνειν ''sympinein'', "to drink together") was a part of a banquet that took place after the meal, when drinking for pleasure was acc ...

''. The Weighing of the Soul and the Eagle Defeating the Snake are ancient themes which had been syncretized by the Christian world. Numerous depictions are of sea creatures, including sirens with two tails, painted while breastfeeding, painting or executing acrobatic dances. They were inspired by the sea thiasus featured in Roman sarcophagi and which was also used by

Andrea Mantegna Andrea Mantegna (, , ; September 13, 1506) was an Italian painter, a student of Roman archeology, and son-in-law of Jacopo Bellini. Like other artists of the time, Mantegna experimented with perspective, e.g. by lowering the horizon in ord ...

, whom perhaps Pinturicchio met in the building of the Belvedere Palace in the Vatican.

Sources

* {{Pinturicchio Paintings by Pinturicchio 1490 paintings