René Boyvin after Léonard Thiry. Medea pouring a rejuvenating potion over Aeson. Plate 21 from Livre de la conqueste de la Toison d'Or. France, 1563.

Medea pouring a rejuvenating potion over Aeson (plate 21). Medea, on the left foreground, is pouring a rejuvenating potion on Aeson, lying in a sarcophagus. He already looks younger. In the background, the temple of Hecate and Hebe. 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.

Thiry worked under Rosso and Primaticcio in the Chateau of Fontainebleau and the bandwork frame round this print is inspired by the stucco decorations there. The impetus which this style of strapwork or 'cut leather' ornament received from the artists of Fontainebleau lasted for over a century. [Label attached to object, unknown exhibition].

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).

Aeson, Jason’s father, rejuvenated thanks to Medea’s potion.

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.2024-1908