René Boyvin after Léonard Thiry. Jason fighting the dragon guarding the Golden Fleece. Plate 12 from Livre de la conqueste de la Toison d'Or. France, 1563.

Jason fighting the dragon guarding the Golden Fleece (plate 12 though numbered '10'). Jason is fighting the dragon. The smoke coming out of the urn given by Medea puts the beast to sleep. In the background, the Argonauts and Aaetes. The main picture is depicted within an ornate strapwork border incorporating a rich array of grotesque ornament. Numbered and signed on plate (monogram within image, bottom right).

Robert Dumesnil, VIII. Nos. 7, 8, 13, 15-21 2nd state. Nos. 2, 23-25 3rd state. Nos. 1, 4, 9, 10 3rd state,with added shading. Nos. 7, 8, 20 have burin scratches since 1563 edition.

Plate from a series of twenty-six prints relating the myth of Jason and the Golden Fleece, engraved by René Boyvin after Léonard Thiry. Each scene is framed by an ornate border, reproducing the model created by Rosso Fiorentino in the Gallery of Francis I at Fontainebleau. Léonard Thiry, of Flemish origin, was one of Rosso's best aides, as his salary at Fontainebleau, and Vasari's comment on him suggest. The set was published in 1563, in Paris, in both Latin and French, and was preceded by a letterpress text: privilege, dedication to the King, and four pages on the story of Jason written by Jacques Gohory (1520-1576). In most editions, we also find quatrains by the same poet, printed in a cartouche, and used as a caption for each plate. Thanks to the privilege and dedication, we know that it was Jehan de Mauregard, an officer of the Crown, who had this set made to present to the young Charles IX.

The V&A keeps scattered prints of this set along with a complete album which is an impression of the Latin edition. See E.2454-1920 to 2479-1920, E.2019-1908 to 2028-1908, 26595 A to 26595 F and E.88A-1891 to E.88B-1891. All but one of the original drawings have survived. Twenty two are kept in Leiden (Library of the University) and the other three are in Paris (Ecole nationale superieure des Beaux-Arts).

Jason had to face the sleepless dragon to finally reach the golden fleece. He used a potion Medea had given him, to put the beast to sleep.

There is some dispute over the number that should be attributed to the prints numbered 48, 49 and 50 by Robert-Dumesnil (see E.2025-1908, E. 2462-1920, E.2463-1920 and E.2464-1920). If one follows the myth or the quatrains by Gohory, Jason confronts the bulls first, the giant in second and at last the dragon. However when a number was given to each plate in order to make a book out of the set, R.D. 48 was given the number 11, though actually being the 10th plate; R.D. 49, was numbered ‘12’ instead of 11; and R.D. 50, 10 instead of 12. This might be explained by the fact that Jason had to sow the teeth of a dragon after facing the bulls, but before fighting the giants. The sleepless dragon was probably thought to be the dragon in question. In the album at the V&A (E. 2454-1920, E.2479-1920), part of this mistake was corrected, R.D. 48 was put in 10th position, but R.D. 49 is 12th instead of being 11th and R.D. 50 is 11th instead of being 12th.

The artist who designed this print worked as assistant to the Italian artist, Rosso Fiorentino, at the French royal palace of Fontainebleau. The most clebrated interior at Fontainebleau was the Galerie Francois I, named after the then king, which featured fresco paintings set into elaborate plaster frames. This black and white print translates this idea into a form which was both much more affordable and portable, and thus enabled the influence of Fontainebleau to travel right across Europe.

E.2025-1908