Our research project uncovers the forgotten Neptunomania which seized European courts and cities from the early sixteenth to the mid seventeenth century. Since Aby Warburg’s inchoate formulation of “The Age of Neptune” in his Bilderatlas Mnemosyne, which can be seen here, a systematic study of this craze for water-god imagery has never been undertaken. Building on explorations of the agentive and affective qualities of images and the afterlife of the classical tradition, as well as the link between the fashioning of state power and the emergence of the new philosophies, our ultimate aim is to reframe our understanding of the early modern period as “The Age of Neptune”.
This display (fig. 1) showcases a small sample of the huge variety of early modern artistic engagements with Neptune. Fountains of Neptune were one of our entry points into this research: several examples are included here, from the famous fountains in the Munich Residenz and in the main squares of Bologna, Florence, and Danzig/Gdańsk, to lesser known examples from Tübingen and Schloss Merseburg. The unusual angle from which the Augsburg Neptune (top left) was photographed allows us to appreciate the very different representational strategies adopted by early modern artists (fig. 2).
There was, after all, no ancient sculpture of Neptune known during the Renaissance: humanists, artists, and artisans had to rely on reliefs and coins, as well as textual descriptions. This opened up a space of interpretation within which Virgil’s Aeneid played a crucial role. By analogy with a passage from the epic where Neptune calms a storm with his words and trident, early modern observers understood the ancient water-god as a symbol of peace and/or power. This is visible in Jan Gossaert’s (1478-1532) Neptune and Amphitrite/Zeelandia (fig. 3), celebrating Habsburg rule over the Low Countries, but also in Frans Francken’s (1581-1642) Allegory of the Abdication of Charles V (fig. 4), a painting reproduced twice in our display: once in colour, bottom right, and a second time as part of Warburg’s Panel 61/62/63/64 from his Bilderatlas.
Finally, the portrait of goldsmith Wenzel Jamnitzer (1507/08-1585) (fig. 5) near the centre of the composition, featuring both a Neptune statuette and drawing, is a reminder of the prominence of the ancient water-god in early modern art cabinets, Wunderkammern, and gardens.
Collaboration sits at the heart of this project since its inception, four years ago. As James Loeb fellows, we were, for the first time, able to work together in the same location. The rich collections of the ZI Photothek and Bibliothek were instrumental to the advancement of our research: we have sought to showcase in the display some of the sources, both visual and written, which we have been working with. We are grateful to colleagues, Fellows, and staff at the ZI for such a productive stay.
DR. FREDERICK CROFTS & DR. DAVIDE MARTINO are holders of the James Loeb Fellowship 2024 at the Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte. Further information on their research during their stay at the ZI can be found here: https://www.zikg.eu/forschung/projekte/projekte-fellows/martino-crofts-age-of-neptune.