Oceanus, from Children of the Demogorgon

Artist Hendrick Goltzius (Dutch, 1558–1617)

Dateca. 1594

MediumChiaroscuro woodcut

DimensionsImage: 13 5/8 x 10 3/8 inches (34.6 x 26.4 cm);
Sheet: 15 1/2 x 11 3/8 inches (39.4 x 28.9 cm)

ClassificationsPrints

Credit LineAcquired through the Herbert F. Johnson, Class of 1922, Endowment

Terms

Dutch
Chiaroscuro woodcut
Dolphins
Mythological creatures
Male nudes
Metamorphosis
Mythology
Oars
Oceanus
Sea monsters
Titans
Tritons

Object number84.039.002

Label CopyAs with his engraving of the Farnese Hercules in the next gallery, Goltzius’s Oceanus takes inspiration from ancient sculpture he saw while in Rome in 1592. It is an inventive “completion” of the Belvedere Torso, a Hellenistic sculptural fragment missing arms, head, and legs that formed part of the papal collection in Rome from the late fifteenth century onward. Many artists, including Goltzius and Michelangelo, took on the game of completing the torso in drawings, prints, and paintings.

(“Undressed: The Nude in Context, 1500-1750,” text by Andrew C. Weislogel and presented at the Johnson Museum February 9-June 16, 2019)

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