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This painting was painted for Cardinal Ferdinando de' Medici in 1575-6, as part of a set of nine coppers intended for a cabinet or writing-desk (studiolo) in the Cardinal's bedroom in the Villa Medici, Rome. The present copper is the only surviving piece of the set.
The subject of the painting has been variously identified as The Assembly of the Gods or The Birth of Minerva. Upper centre sits Jupiter, King of the gods, from whose head Minerva has just been born. To the left and right of him are Neptune, Mars, Apollo, Venus, Mercury and Diana (or Luna) who holds up the moon. The bearded figure lower right, larger in scale and apparently holding the whole group on his shoulders, is probably Atlas and in the lower left corner Vesta, goddess of Mother Nature, is shown guarded by a corbante and sitting above Pluto, god of the Underworld. In the centre are Neptune and Juno, with a peacock at her feet, and upper left seated on a cloud are Ceres and Flora with two satyrs (possibly representing the Four Seasons).
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