1545
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
Dominant colour
The Loves of Mars and Venus is a 1545 ink by Enea Vico, a Renaissance work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This engraving shows a chaotic scene of gods tangled in sheets and armor. A muscular man—likely Mars—lies sprawled on a bed, half-covered by a woman with flowing hair. Around them, cherubs and broken weapons clutter the floor, while a helmet and a shield sit abandoned. The lines are sharp, with heavy shading to show muscle and fabric. The artist used fine lines to create depth, a trick called cross-hatching. This made the scene look three-dimensional even though it’s just ink on paper. Next, check out how cross-hatching works in other prints.
Enea Vico (29 January 1523 – 18 August 1567) was an Italian engraver. Vico was born in Parma. He specialized in grotesque engravings based on antique paintings. Vico made engravings for Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke…
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