# Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [CARAVAGGIO]() - Date: 1551-1600 - Technique: Ceiling painting in oil, 300 x 152 cm ## Commentary This ceiling is the only mural painting of Caravaggio, executed in oils for the small 'alchemy room' of Cardinal del Monte situated in what is now a corridor of the Villa Boncompagni Ludovisi. Del Monte purchased the building in 1596. On his eagle, Jupiter swoops down towards Neptune and Pluto, who are standing at the opposite edge of the ceiling, as if he were making the sky light up with a crystal ball. Any interpretation of the gathering of the gods, seen - unusually - from below, must shift between mythology, astrology, alchemy and even the Christian doctrine of salvation. An oddity in the artist's work, this ceiling painting does not fit into any stylistic category. <P> <TABLE ALIGN=LEFT CELLPADDING=5 BORDER=1 WIDTH=320 BGCOLOR="\#99CCCC"> <TR VALIGN=MIDDLE><TD><IMG SRC="/support/gif/listen.gif" BORDER=0 VALIGN=MIDDLE> Suggested listening \(streaming mp3, 38 minutes\):<BR><A HREF="\#" onClick="w=window.open \('/music1/mozart/mozart\_k\_551.html', 'newWin', 'scrollbars=yes,status=no,dependent=yes,screenX=0,screenY=0,width=350,height=350'\);w.opener=this;w.focus\(\);return true"><B>Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Symphony in C Major \(Jupiter-Symphony\) K 551</B></A> </TD></TR></TABLE> ## Related artworks - [Adoration of the Shepherds]() - [Amor Victorious \(detail\)]() - [Amor Victorious]() - [Bacchus \(detail\)]() - [Bacchus \(detail\)]() - [Bacchus]() - [Basket of Fruit]() - [Beheading of Saint John the Baptist \(detail\)]() - [Beheading of Saint John the Baptist \(detail\)]() - [Beheading of Saint John the Baptist \(detail\)]() - [Beheading of Saint John the Baptist]() - [Boy Bitten by a Lizard \(detail\)]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()