2-730-295 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Gloria, 1535 or 1536. This engraving was based upon a preparatory study for a fresco by Rosso Fiorentino, made to decorate the royal château at Fontainebleau. Glory, or Fame, is personified as a draped, winged woman standing on a globe, triumphantly brandishing a trumpet in each hand. Created for the purpose of rallying military forces and sounding signals associated with religious ceremonies, the trumpet has existed since antiquity. Throughout the Hebrew, Greek, and Roman worlds, trumpets symbolized religious, military, and imperial power, and in this engraving, the instrument celebrated the magnificence of Francis I, King of France from 1515 until his death in 1547.