Allegorical Figure Holding a Sphere (mid-1560s): Art, History and Details

Allegorical Figure Holding a Sphere (mid-1560s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Giorgio Ghisi (Italian, 1520–1582); Giulio Romano (Italian, 1492/99–1546).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Giorgio Ghisi (Italian, 1520/21-1582) Allegorical Figure Holding a Sphere (after Giulio Romano?), mid-1560s Engraving Dudley P. Allen Fund 1972.149 Scholars disagree about the identity of this allegorical personification. She has been variously described as Victory, Fortune, Temperance, and the Primum Mobile (Prime Mover), believed to be a force that generated celestial motion.

Object facts

• Title: Allegorical Figure Holding a Sphere
• Date: mid-1560s
• Creator attribution: Giorgio Ghisi (Italian, 1520–1582); Giulio Romano (Italian, 1492/99–1546)
• Culture: Italy
• Type: Print
• Technique: engraving
• Dimensions: Sheet: 24 x 13.4 cm (9 7/16 x 5 1/4 in.)
• Collection: PR - Engraving
• Department: Prints
• Accession number: 1972.149

Collection credit

Dudley P. Allen Fund

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.