Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto Offering their Crowns to the Arms of Cardinal Borghese

Simone Cantarini first designed this print for the frontispiece of a doctoral thesis in 1640. Originally the image included the coat of arms of Cardinal Pier Maria Borghese as well as that of the author’s family. Perhaps the scholar was praying for a successful doctoral defense with the help of this powerful dedicatee. Cantarini depicted Jupiter approaching in an eagle-drawn chariot alongside Neptune and Pluto, who offer their crowns of immortality to Borghese. After his death in 1642, the cardinal’s coat of arms was scraped out, but the symbols of his virtue and his vocation remain: column (power); scales (justice); vases (temperance); mirror and serpent (prudence); and his cardinal’s hat.