Giulio Romano

(Giulio Pippi de' Giannuzzi, 1499-1546)

   Generally regarded as the most important pupil of the painter Raphael, he worked under his master's direction on the murals in the Vatican Palace down to Raphael's death in 1520, but from the first painting that he completed on his own, the Battle of Constantine (1521), his work moved away from Raphael's strongly classical style and expressed the characteristics of the mannerist style that became fashionable during the middle decades of the 16th century. In 1524 he left Rome to enter the service of Federico Gonzaga, marquis of Mantua, serving not only as a court painter but also as an architect and head of a busy artistic workshop. His most famous work at Mantua was the design of the Palazzo del Tè (1527-1530), a recreational palace whose architectural details display the artist's mastery of the details of classical style but whose general design displays the irregularities typical of the new mannerist style.

   Giulio also gained both fame and notoriety for a set of 16 pornographic drawings done at Rome, showing couples engaged in sexual intercourse in various positions. The drawings circulated privately but were soon published as a set of engravings, leading to imprisonment of the engraver but not the artist. Although the prints were declared illegal, a second edition appeared, this time accompanied by sexually suggestive poems by the Venetian satirist Pietro Aretino. These prints had a strong influence on erotic art in the later Renaissance.