Nature, Art, and Human Perception in Giulio Romano’s Room of the Giants at the Palazzo del Te, Mantua (1532–1535)
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Nurit Golan
Abstract
The Camera dei Giganti in Palazzo del Te in Mantua was painted between the years 1530 and 1533 by Giulio Romano (1499-1546), court artist to the Mantuan Duke Federico II Gonzaga (1500-1540).1 In a cavernous room, Romano’s rendition of fire, a volcanic eruption, an earthquake, and fallen bodies of giants dressed as Roman soldiers created a uniquely stress-laden and highly emotional experience for the duke’s guests in this space. During their initial examination, the beholders must have felt as if they were among the victims of nature’s forces, about to be smashed by the mountains and collapsing building; but they could soon realize that this was a trick of paint, a jest to be enjoyed. This effect was created by Romano’s use of illusionism and tromp l’oeil techniques. I contend that the room was created for more, however, than a brief amusement for the duke’s guests, as prior research has widely held. In contrast, I argue that Romano crafted this Mannerist immersive experience in order to deceive the beholder through his highly illusionistic style and to create a sense of vagueness that expressed his philosophical ideas about the human perception of the world. Romano follows Plato in asserting that the senses, in particular sight, do not allow us to grasp the objective truth, be it nature or nature’s mimesis in art. The deceptive senses are actually subject to our habits and emotions. I argue that the jest Romano created leads to moral self-examination and self-awareness. As such it was a trigger for the philosophical symposia held in the palace as part of the entertainment offered by the lord to his intellectual guests. These symposia were then an intellectual continuation of the pleasure first offered to the senses in the room.
Abstract
The Camera dei Giganti in Palazzo del Te in Mantua was painted between the years 1530 and 1533 by Giulio Romano (1499-1546), court artist to the Mantuan Duke Federico II Gonzaga (1500-1540).1 In a cavernous room, Romano’s rendition of fire, a volcanic eruption, an earthquake, and fallen bodies of giants dressed as Roman soldiers created a uniquely stress-laden and highly emotional experience for the duke’s guests in this space. During their initial examination, the beholders must have felt as if they were among the victims of nature’s forces, about to be smashed by the mountains and collapsing building; but they could soon realize that this was a trick of paint, a jest to be enjoyed. This effect was created by Romano’s use of illusionism and tromp l’oeil techniques. I contend that the room was created for more, however, than a brief amusement for the duke’s guests, as prior research has widely held. In contrast, I argue that Romano crafted this Mannerist immersive experience in order to deceive the beholder through his highly illusionistic style and to create a sense of vagueness that expressed his philosophical ideas about the human perception of the world. Romano follows Plato in asserting that the senses, in particular sight, do not allow us to grasp the objective truth, be it nature or nature’s mimesis in art. The deceptive senses are actually subject to our habits and emotions. I argue that the jest Romano created leads to moral self-examination and self-awareness. As such it was a trigger for the philosophical symposia held in the palace as part of the entertainment offered by the lord to his intellectual guests. These symposia were then an intellectual continuation of the pleasure first offered to the senses in the room.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Contents VII
- Introduction 1
- Nature and Human Society in the Pre-Modern World 29
- Unnatural Humans: The Misbegotten Monsters of Beowulf 97
- Natural Environment in the Old English Orosius: Ohthere’s Travel Accounts in Norway 135
- When Is a Good Time? Health Advice and the Months of the Year 153
- Humans Serving Nature: Beekeeping and Bee Products in Piero de Crescenzi’s Ruralia commoda 169
- Medieval Epistemology and the Perception of Nature: From the Physiologus to John of Garland and the Niederrheinische Orientbericht. Bestiaries and the ‘Book of Nature’ 189
- Waste, Excess, and Profligacy as Critiques of Authority in Fourteenth-Century English Literature 217
- “A New Flood Was Released from the Heavens”: The Literary Responses to the Disaster of 1333 253
- The Environmental Causes of the Plague and their Terminology in the German Pestbücher of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries 301
- Island, Grove, Bark, and Pith: Nature Metaphors in Teresa de Cartagena 331
- Nature, Art, and Human Perception in Giulio Romano’s Room of the Giants at the Palazzo del Te, Mantua (1532–1535) 353
- Human Body, Natural Causes, and Aging of the World in Czech-Language Sources of the Late Middle Ages and Early Modern Period 383
- Perception of Air Quality in the Czech Lands of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries 415
- Johann Arndt’s Book of Nature: Medieval Ideas During the German Reformation 435
- Imitation vs. Allegorization: Martin Opitz’s Influential Proposal Concerning Poetic Reflections on Nature 459
- François Bernier and Nature in Kashmir: Belonging in Paradise? 485
- Cosmology and Pre-Modern Anthropology 505
- Praising Perchta as the Embodiment of Nature’s Cycles: Worship and Demonization of Perchta and Holda in Medieval and Early Modern Culture 549
- List of Illustrations 581
- Biographies of the Contributors 583
- Index 589
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Contents VII
- Introduction 1
- Nature and Human Society in the Pre-Modern World 29
- Unnatural Humans: The Misbegotten Monsters of Beowulf 97
- Natural Environment in the Old English Orosius: Ohthere’s Travel Accounts in Norway 135
- When Is a Good Time? Health Advice and the Months of the Year 153
- Humans Serving Nature: Beekeeping and Bee Products in Piero de Crescenzi’s Ruralia commoda 169
- Medieval Epistemology and the Perception of Nature: From the Physiologus to John of Garland and the Niederrheinische Orientbericht. Bestiaries and the ‘Book of Nature’ 189
- Waste, Excess, and Profligacy as Critiques of Authority in Fourteenth-Century English Literature 217
- “A New Flood Was Released from the Heavens”: The Literary Responses to the Disaster of 1333 253
- The Environmental Causes of the Plague and their Terminology in the German Pestbücher of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries 301
- Island, Grove, Bark, and Pith: Nature Metaphors in Teresa de Cartagena 331
- Nature, Art, and Human Perception in Giulio Romano’s Room of the Giants at the Palazzo del Te, Mantua (1532–1535) 353
- Human Body, Natural Causes, and Aging of the World in Czech-Language Sources of the Late Middle Ages and Early Modern Period 383
- Perception of Air Quality in the Czech Lands of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries 415
- Johann Arndt’s Book of Nature: Medieval Ideas During the German Reformation 435
- Imitation vs. Allegorization: Martin Opitz’s Influential Proposal Concerning Poetic Reflections on Nature 459
- François Bernier and Nature in Kashmir: Belonging in Paradise? 485
- Cosmology and Pre-Modern Anthropology 505
- Praising Perchta as the Embodiment of Nature’s Cycles: Worship and Demonization of Perchta and Holda in Medieval and Early Modern Culture 549
- List of Illustrations 581
- Biographies of the Contributors 583
- Index 589
