'The Rape of Ganymede'
Plaquette
Giovanni Bernardi (1494-1553)
Italy
After 1532
Bronze
Museum no. 4120-1854

This frequently encountered plaquette shows Ganymede swept into the heavens by Jupiter in the guise of an eagle. It is taken from a lost rock crystal engraving that Bernardi produced for Cardinal Ippolito de' Medici. He adapted the composition from a drawing that Michelangelo made in the winter of 1532.