“That Rare Italian Master". Shakespeare and Giulio Romano

The only explicit reference to a living artist in Shakespeare’s work is to be found in The Winter’s Tale, where the “statue” of queen Hermione – unjustly accused of infidelity by her husband, having collapsed during her public trial, and universally believed to be dead – is said to be "newly performed by that rare Italian master, Julio Romano, who, had he himself eternity and could put breath into his work, would beguile Nature of her custom, so perfectly he is her ape: he so near to Hermione hath done Hermione, that they say one would speak to her and stand in hope of answer". This passage has always been central to critical debate: how had Shakespeare become acquainted with the name and reputation of the Italian artist? And again, why did the poet decide to name, as creator of a statue, an artist who was in fact both a painter and an architect, but never a sculptor? The first part of this essay will comprise a general survey of the possible sources through which the name and reputation of Giulio could have reached Shakespeare, while in the second part I will briefly discuss the main scholarly views about his “mistake”. Finally, I will suggest a possible new source for the name of Shakespeare’s sculptor.