27. Etienne Delaune (1518-1595)
after Rosso Fiorentino
Combat of the Centaurs and the Lapiths at the Wedding of Pyrithous

(click on image to print)
Delaune: Combat of the Centaurs

Combat of the Centaurs and the Lapiths at the Wedding of Pyrithous

Engraving, 85 x 133 mm., Robert-Dumesnil 303 from Suite of 8 Prints after Italian Originals. Provenance: Viola & Remig Papp (not in Lugt). Fine, black and sharp impression on laid paper with narrow margins and in fine condition. In fact, the print is a reduced and reversed copy after the engraving by Enea Vico(Bartsch 30). The drunken battle at the wedding of the King of the Lapiths, at which one of the invited Centaurs attempted to carry off the bride, was finally resolved by Theseus (Ovid: Metamorphoses) under whose direction the Centaurs were driven off. The theme came to symbolize the victory of civilization over barbarism, a hope still lingering with us.