Essay: The Engraving by Giorgio Ghisi – Analysis

The engraving, by Giorgio Ghisi in 1570, depicts the story of Venus and Adonis. The object consists of a single print from the engraving set on a white matte. It is in very good condition, with no indication of any damage to the print. The edges of the print are slightly undefined, indicating that there might not have been perfectly even pressure applied throughout the engraving. Ghisi likely chose this medium due to its ability to display very fine details. It also allowed for multiple prints to be created from one original piece of art. This allowed the story and work to be viewed by many more people. Some characteristics of engraving as a medium include the very thin and precise lines that compose the image, as well as the grayscale shading exhibited. The characters depicted show a definite viewing sequence. Since people are inherently drawn to where others are looking we are pointed towards Adonis’ face. Venus is looking directly at Adonis. The light drapery Cupid is holding draws us to the upper-left of the image. This creates a circular sequence at first. Next, the viewer is then directed towards the upper-right, into the background. This is aided by Adonis’ spear pointing in this direction, as well as the lighter shading indicating there is another scene. This shows the death of Adonis after he leaves Venus. The object sets the viewer up to experience the story of Venus and Adonis through the use of various techniques allowed by the medium of engraving.
Beginning with Venus in the foreground of the engraving we can see a very detailed human form. There is no color present anywhere in the image due to the fact it is an engraving, however there is shading. We can see there is a strong use of painterliness in the image, Ghisi relies on the play of light of dark to distinguish objects from each other. From a top level perspective there are no strong lines visible, however we can tell one object from another by the edges being much darker than the next part of the image. This is exhibited in Venus’ arms when compared to the ground nearby. It is also shown with her arm and Adonis’ chest. The muscles are clearly outlined by very fine lines being engraved in directions perpendicular to the lines shading Adonis’ chest. Venus’ body seems to occupy space in the sense that there are shadows cast beneath her feet and the clothing draped over her body has mass. The draped clothing implies that gravity is acting on Venus’ form. Both Venus and Adonis are the largest figures in the engraving, allowing them to stand out in comparison to the rest of the image. However Ghisi also uses scaling to show objects off in the distance as smaller than in the rest of the image. Venus is depicted in front of Adonis with her body facing away from the viewer. We are never able to see her face or her expression, this also serves to partially obscure Adonis from the viewer. Due to her location Venus’ body position is emphasized, pointing towards her affection for Adonis. This is demonstrated by her hand caressing his face and her gaze into his eyes. Overall Venus’ body is made of very simple shapes, using a collection of straight lines and circles to form the muscles on her back and the clothing she is wearing.
Adonis is the second form that stands out in the engraving. His body has much more detail associated with it, including more clothing, a facial expression, and other accessories connected to his hands and feet. The lines that make up his body are seen as cross-hatched in more areas than are seen on Venus. The fabric he is wearing as clothing has very complex folds in it across his legs and arms. They are contoured and detailed using the same style as on Venus, with the edges being very dark and the surrounding areas being much lighter. The impression of space and mass is given by the spear and leashes Adonis is holding. The leashes draping over Adonis’ arm give a sense of gravity, as well as Adonis holding up the spear. The leashes and spear are both smaller than Venus and Adonis, giving a sense of scale to the image as well. The spear pointing up and to the right allows our eyes to follow it along the image, moving our focus to different areas. The leashes serve a similar purpose as they draw our eyes downward to the dogs and boar’s head. The dogs also contributing to the fact that Adonis is about to embark on a hunting mission. The spear is incredibly detailed, with thin cross-hatched lines forming the texture. There is another strap twisted along the length of the spear drawing our eyes upward. The boar’s head is also detailed with overlapping curved lines to give the effect of the boar’s fur. Adonis is also wearing an ornate sandal with the mouth of an animal seeming to be wrapped around it. The fur of the animal also carries the overlapping curved lines. Adonis’ form is characterized by darker shading and a greater sense of space and presence.
Venus and Adonis are set in a dense forest. The trees are composed of many thin horizontal lines. The lines make up the bark of the tree and serve to distinguish between the trees as well. In addition to the horizontal lines there are many curved lines to detail knots and burls in the wood. The leaves have a light amount of shading in the form of parallel lines and show a large degree of repetition. The leaves add a degree of space and mass to the trees as well as the image as a whole. The leaves are shown sloping downward to give the impression that there is some weight to them. They also serve to fill in a large amount of white space that would have been present otherwise. They help reinforce the story being told by the engraving as well. The forest setting lends to the fact that Venus is infatuated with Adonis, given that couples tend to prefer the privacy a forest provides. The forest is also a place that someone would typically go hunting as well.
The two cherubs, one being Cupid, shown have relatively less detail as compared to both Venus and Adonis. Cupid is shown on a slight elevation and behind Venus and Adonis. He is composed of cross-hatched curved lines. The legs are contoured and rounded to emphasize the human and muscular nature of him. Cupid is placed in space by Ghisi’s use of a smaller scale for the scene behind Venus and Adonis. His arrows and quiver are hanging from his back in a way that gives us a sense of mass. On the other hand his wings are floating off his shoulder blades to show us that he is indeed a god. He is also shown holding a drapery up, which might have been used to give Venus and Adonis some privacy given its location. The drapery is composed of thin parallel lines that bunch up around the creases and folds. There is an absence of lines in places where the fabric is smooth. The fact Cupid is holding the fabric up makes us believe that it has some mass to it. It is also apparent that Cupid’s left hand is further in the background due to the shadow on it. To create this shadow Ghisi uses parallel curved lines that blend together, but are not as dark as some of the other lines. Cupid’s face is oriented slightly towards the viewer with the eyes focused out of the page. The face is shaded with lines that blend together and outlined with a single very thick and dark line. The outlines around the eyes and mouth are created in a similar fashion. Cupid’s hair is very similar to Adonis’, with the same curls and dark lines denoting the edges of the curls. The cherub in the lower left hand corner of the engraving uses the same techniques as Cupid, but is placed in a crouched kneeling position holding onto an animal. Cupid has been placed behind Venus and Adonis to indicate that he is not the focal point of the story, but still a major component.
In the background of the image we can see a completely different scene than the one presented in the foreground. Adonis is pictured lying on the ground with his spear, while a wild boar is pressing its snout up against him. Adonis is composed of single lines in most parts, with some details being shown with a couple lines. This is in contrast to the foreground of the image that is composed mainly of multiple parallel lines. Adonis’ legs in the background have some light hashing to indicate shading and give some depth to the shape. The upper body is left mostly as a broad outline of the shape, with very little detail seen in the face and torso. His right arm is outlined more clearly, as is the spear. These details have just a single line to outline their silhouette. The trees are also composed of much fewer lines, with the trunks being mainly a solid thick line with variations on depth. The leaves are shown as single lines. The background is also shown much more spread out, with there being much more white space in between the objects. This was likely due to the fact there would not have been enough resolution to indicate more objects. There is also an atmospheric perspective used in the shading of different scenes. The foreground of the engraving is very dark and defined, the background with Adonis and the boar is much lighter but still well defined, and even further back we can see outlines of buildings as well as very faint outlines of mountains. This gives a sense of depth to the engraving, allowing for multiple different scenes and locations within one single entity. The scale of the images also enhances this depth, given that Adonis in the background is about the size of the spearhead compared to full-size in the foreground.
The engraving by Giorgio Ghisi employs a few different visual strategies, such as scaling to indicate different scenes, using parallel and cross-hatched lines to create volume, and the use of atmospheric perspective. In order to completely tell the story of Venus and Adonis Ghisi used three different scales to portray three different scenes. The front and largest scale shows Venus and Adonis, behind Venus and Adonis is a medium scale with Cupid, and in the background the smallest scale shows Adonis being killed by the boar. The use of parallel and cross-hatched lines gives volume to the different elements, including the bodies of Venus and Adonis as well as the animals and foliage. Atmospheric perspective allows for one final addition of depth to the image. The engraving is a secular work, which indicates that it was intended for private patrons rather than a church. It was not used to promote the ideology of any particular religion. I would want to know how many copies were made and how popular the engraving was at the time to further my analysis of this engraving. This is an example of a narrative artistic work that provides us with the story of Venus and Adonis through three different scenes.