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This paper delves into the iconography of two friezes adorning the rooms of two palazzi located in the Marca di Ancona, a peripheral region within the Papal States. All the scenes portrayed in the two friezes are inspired by the Ovid’s Metamorphoses. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the influence of the illustrations found in the vernacular translations of the Metamorphoses, which were spread around Italy from the end of the 15th century. Additionally, it aims to explore the impact of prints that circulated freely, reproducing models from renowned artists like Michelangelo. These prints disseminated iconographies throughout Italy, making them known even in the provincial areas. The clients used them in an attempt to adapt their taste to the prevailing fashions of the big centers. Meanwhile the artists – unable to rival their counterparts from the centers – were provided with models which, in some instances, they closely adhered to.

Le illustrazioni presenti nelle edizioni cinquecentesche delle Metamorfosi di Ovidio, tradotte da Giovanni Andrea dell’Anguillara, non sono mai state oggetto di uno studio approfondito e dettagliato. L’articolo propone l’analisi iconografica di tutte le serie che accompagnano la traduzione ed opera un accurato confronto tra di esse. Particolare attenzione è posta per l’edizione Giunti del 1584, la quale, oltre ad essere l’unica di cui si conosce l’autore delle incisioni, è la prima a presentare illustrazioni a tutta pagina. Si cerca quindi di individuare il motivo per cui sia avvenuto questo passaggio, operando un confronto con testi a stampa che presentano un’evoluzione iconografica analoga e, in secondo luogo, con le immagini devozionali nelle quali trovano applicazione le tecniche di memorizzazione, il cui impiego si riscontra probabilmente anche in tali incisioni. The illustrations in the sixteenth Editions of Ovidio's Metamorphoses, translated by Giovanni Andrea dell'Anguillara, have been never studied in depth. The paper focuses on the analysis of all iconographic series with the aim to make an accurate comparison among them. Particularly, the attention is addressed to the Giunti’s edition in 1584, which is the only one where the engravings’ author is known and the first one where the illustrations are full-page. The purpose is to find the reason of this shift by comparing those illustrations with printed texts that have a similar iconographic evolution and with devotional images characterized by memorization techniques, which have been probably used also for the engravings in the Giunti’s edition.