Piero di Cosimo, Tritons and Nereids, Oil on Panel, 37 x158 cm, Milano, Altomani collection

This narrow horizontal panel depicts a lively group of hybrid sea creatures and nymphs moving through shallow waters along a sandy shoreline. Figures are shown in various states of interaction: some blow large curved horns, others wrestle or embrace, and a young sea-child rides atop a winged aquatic monster. The painting is characterized by a whimsical and slightly grotesque approach to anatomy, typical of the artist’s interest in the primitive origins of life.

Piero di Cosimo was deeply influenced by Lucretius’s 'De rerum natura', and his depictions of hybrid creatures explore the Renaissance fascination with the 'primitive' state of the world before civilization. This work reflects the Neoplatonic interest in the diverse forms of the 'Great Chain of Being' and the mythic evolution of nature as discussed in the circles of Marsilio Ficino.