About the Artist

Piero di Cosimo (1462 Florence-1521 Florence), Whose real name was Piero di Lorenzo, studied in florence uneder Cosimo Rosselli. In 1481-82 he worked together with Rosselli on the frescoes in the Sistine Chapel in Rome, but subsequently spent most of his creative life in Florence. Not a single signed or dated picture from his own hand has survived, but based on Giorgio Vasari's biography of 1550, several altarpieces, mythological narratives and portraits have been attributed to him. The artist's style shows the influence of Filippino Lippi, Domenico Ghirlandaio, the early work of Leonardo da Vinci and Hugo van der Goes. These various inspirations were combined by di Cosimo into a style that combines lyric and dramatic pictorial elements. Other works by the artist include Venus and Mars, c. 1498, Gemaldegalerie, SMPK, Berlin; Scene from the Legend of Prometheus, c. 1510-1520, Alte Pinakothek, Munich; the Discovery of Honey, Worcester Art Museum, Worcester.