GIULIO ROMANO
(b. ca. 1499, Roma, d. 1546, Mantova)

Fresco on the east wall (detail)

1532-34
Fresco
Sala dei Giganti, Palazzo del Tè, Mantua

The picture shows a detail of the east wall fresco representing a cyclops. The facial forms of the cyclops blur, monster and monkey shout at each other. Out of the blood of the giants, in keeping with medieval interpretation of Ovid, little monkeys emerge: the giants, having lapsed into the sin of pride, have revealed their true animal essence in monkeys that only superficially resemble human beings.