Here is the second engraving from the book of erotic sonnets I Modi, published in 1520. As I noted in my post on the first of these, they were based on paintings by Giulio Romano, as engraved by Marcantonio Raimondi then reconstructed by Agostino Carracci and reworked by Jacques Joseph Coiny in 1798.
The other engravings in the series all relate to legendary or historical lovers but while Alcibiade was an Athenian statesman and general in the fifth century BC, Glycere was a Greek courtesan in the fourth century BC. Their depiction as a couple is, therefore, pure fantasy with no mythical or historical precedent. It is merely an excuse to show an athletic man leaping into the breach of a rather surprised looking woman.
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