Jove Casts His Thunderbolts at the Rebellious Giants

Johann Michael Rottmayr’s bold brushwork, vivid palette, and forward-tilted compositions indicate that this painting and its companions were hung over doorways, offering a forceful illusion to viewers below. Here, the immense power of the Roman god Jove’s gleaming thunderbolts looms overhead. Jove, also known as Jupiter, flies forward and rears back his fist, ready to send the giants who have climbed up to attack the heavens tumbling back down to earth. The strongly contrasted light and dark passages, called chiaroscuro, amplify the scene’s intensity.