Neptune emerging from the sea on his chariot — I-Rc Ms2478.11 detail

Neptune emerging from the sea on his chariot, to scale — 60 × 80 mm, beside a 1.8 m figure.

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Neptune emerging from the sea on his chariot

Crescea la notte e della luna al lume

Catalogue ID	1.17
Artist	Domenico Jacovacci (1604-1661); Master of the Roman Songbook (1650-1660)
Object type	drawing
Date	1652
Place	Rome
Collection	Biblioteca Casanatense (Rome)
Inv. no.	I-Rc Ms2478.11
Tech. / support	brown ink, graphite, paper, pen
Measures	60 × 80 mm
Subject	92H171 — Neptune as lord of the sea 92H178 — triumph of Neptune 92H18(TRIDENT) — attributes of Neptune: trident

Neptune emerges from the sea in his chariot drawn by sea-horses, accompanied by a procession of marine deities. On the shore, a nude youth—possibly Aristaeus—sits beside a rock, his Pan flute resting near him. He gestures toward Neptune, possibly in an act of supplication or inquiry. The scene refers to the episode in which Aristaeus, grieving the death of Eurydice, seeks counsel from the sea gods and is received into their domain.

Music

References

Provenance

Cantata: Crescea la notte e della luna al lume
Composer: Giovanni Marciani (c. 1605-1663)
Manuscript: Casanatense cantata album — I-Rc Ms2478
CLORI: https://cantataitaliana.it/scheda/780

Bianco, Anna. Images for the Music: Drawings and secular cantatas. Ph.D. dissertation, Leiden University, 2025

Bianco, Anna. “The Master of the Roman Songbook.” Going South: Artistic Exchange between the Netherlands and Italy in the 17th Century, vol. IX, RKD & NIKI, 2023. (nr. 11)

Biblioteca Casanatense — nowadays current

Proportions

Neptune emerging from the sea on his chariot

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