03 — ARTWORK
Contest between Minerva and Neptune
- MEDIUM
- Marble, 83 x 107 cm
- TYPE
- Mythological
PALETTE
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- FILE
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COMMENTARY
UNDERLINED TERMS ARE DEFINED IN THE GLOSSARY.
Contest between Minerva and Neptune c. 1508 Marbleloosely applied to any hard limestone that can be sawn into thin slabs and will take a good polish so that it is suitable for decorative work; more strictly, it refers to metamorphosed limestones whose structure has been recrystallized by heat or pressure. Marbles are widely disseminated and occur in a great variety of colours and patterns, but certain types have been particularly prized by sculptors. The most famous of Greek white marbles in the ancient world was the close-grained Pentelic, which was quarried at Mount Pentelicon in Attica. The Elgin Marbles are carved in Pentelic. Widely used also were the somewhat coarser-grained translucent white marbles from the Aegean islands of Paros and Naxos. Parian marble was used for the celebrated Mausoleum at Halicarnassus. The pure white Carrara marble, quarried at Massa, Carrara, and Pietra Santa in Tuscany from the 3rd century BC, is the most famous of all sculptors' stones. It was used for the Apollo Belvedere, and was much favoured in the Renaissance, particularly by Michelangelo, who often visited the quarries to select material for his work. Neoclassical sculptors also favoured Carrara marble because of its ability to take a smooth, sleek surface, but it can look rather 'dead' compared with some of the finest Greek marbles., 83 x 107 cm The Hermitage, St. Petersburg
Antonio Lombardo was the younger brother of Tullio. His works are not as well documented as those of his father and brother. He was intensely involved with the antiquethe classical age of Greece and Rome began with the Greek migrations of the 2nd millennium BC, and ended in the West in 476 AD with the deposition of the Roman emperor Romulus Augustulus (c. 475 AD); in the East it ended in 529 AD when the Platonic Academy was closed by Justinian (482 - 565 AD).. He entered the service of Alfonso I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, in 1506. In 1508 he carved a sequence of marble bas-reliefs probably intended for the "camerino d'alabastro" in the ducal palace. Two mythological reliefs reveal his type of Classicism in style and content, one of them represents the contest between Minerva and Neptune for Attica and the other Vulcan's Forge.
The Contest between Minerva and Neptune contrasts a chiseled background of architecture and scrollwork pilasters with three figures in strong reliefA sculptural work in which all or part projects from the flat surface. There are three basic forms: low relief (bas-relief, basso rilievo), in which figures project less than half their depth from the background; medium relief (mezzo-rilievo), in which figures are seen half round; and high relief (alto rilievo), in which figures are almost detached from their background. standing out from a scenic wall like statuettes. A frontal view of a calm, slender, nude Neptune shows a wholly classicalRelating to the culture of ancient Greece and Rome (classical Antiquity). The classical world played a profoundly important role in the Renaissance, with Italian scholars, writers, and artists seeing their own period as the rebirth (the "renaissance") of classical values after the Middle Ages. The classical world was considered the golden age for the arts, literature, philosophy, and politics. Concepts of the classical, however, changed greatly from one period to the next. Roman literature provided the starting point in the 14th century, scholars patiently finding, editing and translating a wide range of texts. In the 15th century Greek literature, philosophy and art - together with the close study of the remains of Roman buildings and sculptures-expanded the concept of the classical and ensured it remained a vital source of ideas and inspiration. musculature; Minerva escapes from the bounds of traditional representations and the sculptor chose to create a peaceful image of the young goddess, fully draped in a garment with small serried folds. They offer their gifts to Attica to assure their domination over her. Neptune's horse is inspired by one of the horses of St Mark's, whereas the goddess's simply stylised olive tree blends with the background.
CITE THIS RECORD — BIBTEX
@online{wga-r8d3d52beb5ffd6,
author = {Krén, Emil and Marx, Daniel},
title = {Contest between Minerva and Neptune by LOMBARDO, Antonio},
organization = {{Web Gallery of Art}},
date = {2026-09-09},
url = {https://beta.wga.hu/artists/lombardo-antonio-rd9825c548c845f/contest-between-minerva-and-neptune-r8d3d52beb5ffd6},
urldate = {2026-09-09},
langid = {english}
}ACCESSED 2026-09-09. REPLACE THE AUTHOR FIELD WITH THE COMMENTARY AUTHOR WHERE ONE IS NAMED.
