This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2009)

Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto

Artist	Caravaggio
Year	c. 1597
Type	Oil on plaster ceiling
Dimensions	300 cm × 180 cm (120 in × 71 in)
Location	Villa Ludovisi, Rome

Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto (c. 1597) is a painting by the Italian Baroque master Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, located in the casino of the Villa Ludovisi, Rome. It is unusual in being painted in oils on plaster - oil painting is normally on canvas or, less frequently, on wood.

According to an early biographer, one of Caravaggio's aims was to show up critics who claimed that he had no grasp of perspective - these three figures demonstrate the most dramatic foreshortening imaginable. They also should give pause to those who claim that he always painted from live models.

The painting was done for Caravaggio's patron Cardinal Francesco Maria Del Monte, on the ceiling of the cardinal's garden villa at porta Pinciana. Here the cardinal dabbled in alchemy, and Caravaggio has painted an allegory of the alchemical triad of Paracelsus - Jupiter stands for sulphur and air, Neptune for mercury and water, and Pluto for salt and earth. Each is identified by his beast, Jupiter by the eagle, Neptune the seahorse, Pluto by the three-headed dog cerberus. Jupiter is reaching out to move the celestial sphere in which the sun revolves around the Earth - Galileo was a friend of Del Monte but had yet to make his mark on cosmology.

v • d • e Caravaggio List of works 1593–1594 Boy Peeling Fruit (c. 1592) · Young Sick Bacchus (c. 1593) · Boy with a Basket of Fruit · The Fortune Teller (Buona ventura) (c. 1594) · Cardsharps (I bari) (c. 1594) 1595–1599 the Del Monte paintings The Musicians (c. 1595) · Saint Francis of Assisi in Ecstasy (c. 1595) · Saint Francis in Meditation (c. 1595) · Boy Bitten by a Lizard (c. 1596) · Apollo the Lute Player (c. 1596) · The Lute Player (c. 1596) · Bacchus (c. 1596) · Penitent Magdalene (c. 1597) · Rest on the Flight into Egypt (c. 1597) · Medusa (c. 1597) · Portrait of a Courtesan (Fillide Melandroni) (c. 1597) · Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto (c. 1597) · The Fortune Teller (c. 1597–98) · Saint Catherine of Alexandria (c. 1598) · The Sacrifice of Isaac (Princeton version) (c. 1598) · John the Baptist (c. 1598) · Martha and Mary Magdalene (c. 1598) · Portrait of Maffeo Barberini (1598) · Basket of Fruit (c. 1599) · Judith Beheading Holofernes (c. 1599) · David and Goliath (c. 1599) · Narcissus (c. 1599) · Boy Bitten by a Lizard (c. 1600) 1600–1606 Most famous painter in Rome The Calling of Saint Matthew (1599–1600) · The Martyrdom of Saint Matthew (1599–1600) · The Conversion of Saint Paul (1600) · The Crucifixion of Saint Peter (1601) · The Conversion of Saint Paul on the Road to Damascus (1601) · Supper at Emmaus (London) (1601) · The Calling of Saints Peter and Andrew · Amor Victorious (1602) · Saint Matthew and the Angel (1602) · The Inspiration of Saint Matthew (1602) · John the Baptist (Capitoline) (1602) · John the Baptist (Pamphilij) (c. 1602) · The Incredulity of Saint Thomas (c. 1602) · The Taking of Christ (1602) · Saint Francis in Meditation (Cappuccini) (c. 1603) · The Entombment of Christ (c. 1603) · The Sacrifice of Isaac (1603) · Madonna of Loreto (Madonna dei Pellegrini, Pilgrims' Madonna) (c. 1604) · John the Baptist (Kansas City) (1604) · John the Baptist (Palazzo Corsini) (1604) · The Crowning with Thorns (Prato) (1604) · The Death of the Virgin (1604) · Christ on the Mount of Olives (1605) · Ecce Homo (c. 1605) · Saint Jerome in Meditation (c. 1605) · Saint Jerome Writing (Borghese) (c. 1605) · Portrait of Pope Paul V (1605) · Still Life with Fruit on a Stone Ledge (1605) · Madonna and Child with St. Anne (Madonna de Palafrenieri, Grooms' Madonna) (1606) 1606–1608 Naples and Malta Mary Magdalen in Ecstasy (1606) · Saint Francis in Prayer (Cremona) (1606) · Supper at Emmaus (Milan) (1606) · The Seven Works of Mercy (1606) · The Crucifixion of Saint Andrew (1607) · David with the Head of Goliath (Vienna) (1607) · Madonna of the Rosary (1607) · The Crowning with Thorns (Vienna) (1607) · The Flagellation of Christ (c. 1607) · Christ at the Column (c. 1607) · Salome with the Head of John the Baptist (London) (c. 1607) · Saint Jerome Writing (Valletta) (1607) · Portrait of Alof de Wignacourt and his Page (1607–1608) · Portrait of Fra Antionio Martelli (1608) · The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist (1608) · Sleeping Cupid (1608) · John the Baptist (John the Baptist at the Fountain) (1608) 1608–1610 Sicily and Naples The Annunciation (1608) · Burial of St. Lucy (1608) · The Raising of Lazarus (1609) · Adoration of the Shepherds (1609) · Nativity with St. Francis and St. Lawrence (1609) · Salome with the Head of John the Baptist (Madrid) (1609) · Denial of Saint Peter (1610) · John the Baptist (Borghese) (1610) · The Martyrdom of Saint Ursula (1610) · David with the Head of Goliath (1610) Works attributed to Caravaggio Still Life with Flowers and Fruit · John the Baptist (Reclining) (1610) · The Tooth Puller (1607–1609) · John the Baptist (Basel) · Boy Peeling a Fruit (c. 1593) · Holy Family with St. John the Baptist · Cardsharps (pre-1594)