Naval Battle between Trojans and Greeks (aka: “The Trojans Repulsing the Greeks)

Giovanni Battista Scultori

Giovanni Battista Scultori was known for the level of detail he employed in his preferred mediums, including sculpture, printmaking, and painting. As with his mentor, famed Italian artist and architect Guilio Romano, under whom he trained as an interior decorative painter for Romano’s Palazzo de Te, he took inspiration from ancient Greek artworks, especially reliefs depicting mythological events.

This large engraving is among his most well known, and is likely a scene from Book 14 of Homer’s epic “Iliad,” depicting the battle at sea between the Acheans and Trojans. An impression of this print can be found in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.