Piero di Cosimo’s painting The Finding of Vulcan on Lemnos (c. 1495-1505) is an Italian early Renaissance masterpiece held at the Wadsworth Atheneum in Connecticut, USA. Using a combination of oil and tempera paints on canvas, this work portrays Vulcan – the god of fire – being found by or lifted out of the sea onto the shore of Lemnos. The bright colors are typical for later works which has been developed as a result of evolving technology and technique in oil painting. As a result, viewers are able to get a sense of movement in this painting as each character appears to be frozen at different moments in time depicting the progression throughout the course of the event.
The Finding Of Vulcan On Lemnos by Piero Di Cosimo stands out among his other works due to its accurate portrayal of emotion and drama; it has become an exemplary representative piece for this period with many readers viewing it as their favorite work of art from this era. This is followed by Piero Di Cosimo’s 15th century work The Discovery Of Honey which is similar to those depicting discovery or quest but with a lighter, sweet story about its determined character finding his prize. It demonstrates that even small everyday objects can become sources of grand stories–and great works of art.
