Pluto & Prosperina

Date1709

Engraver John Smith (ca. 1652 - ca. 1742)

After work by Tiziano Vecelli Titian

OriginEngland, London

MediumBlack and white mezzotint

DimensionsOverall: 19 3/4 × 13 5/8in. (50.2 × 34.6cm)

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1979-328

DescriptionLower margin reads: Pluto & Prosperina. / Ex Tabula Titiani. J. Smith fecit Londoni. 1709."
Label TextThis set of prints are modeled after Tiziano Vecellio's (Titian) paintings known as the "Loves of the Gods" which were owned by the first Duke of Marlborough at Blenheim Palace in England.1 Works depicting historical or classical figures and scenes, like these prints, were considered the most prestigious works an artist could create.2 In 1717, Williamsburg resident John Custis IV mentions engravings of "Loves of the Gods" when he wrote to London merchants to place an order for new prints of "good quality" for the passage of his newly built house. He wrote: "I desire you will lay out 40 sh 50 str in good Comicall diverting prints to hang in the passage of my house; lett [sic] them bee [sic] good of the sort, or seend none painting and poetry admit of no medium, some you sent in the last year were well done, (VIZ Mars &Venus, & Neptune and Amphitrite)..."3 .
These prints, which were presumably in his possession at the time he wrote his letter, might have been by John Smith or those by Pierre Dervet's copies published in 1712, or other imitators.(4) The subject matter "Loves of the Gods" were met with such popularity, that Robert Sayer was still publishing them at the time of his 1765 & 1775 catalogues.

1. Timothy Clayton, "The English Print: 1688-1802," (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1997) 70.
2.Ibid. 18-19.
3. John Custis, "John Custis to Bell & Dee," (From the Virginia Historical Society. "Williamsburg, 1717". Letter. The Letterbook of John Custis IV of Williamsburg: 1717-1742, 2005).
4.Timothy Clayton, "The English Print: 1688-1802," (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1997) 18-19.