Why it matters
Jupiter, disguised as a dark cloud, embraces the nymph Io, whose face is only just visible. Correggio painted it around 1530 as part of a series on the loves of Jupiter for Duke Federico II Gonzaga of Mantua.
Did you know?
- The series comprised four paintings, including Leda and the Swan and Danaë.
- It may have been given to Emperor Charles V.
- It has been in Vienna since at least the 1610s, together with Ganymede.
Based on the Wikipedia article Jupiter and Io (CC BY-SA 4.0).
