Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 16

Andromeda Monster Paint Oil on canvas Old master 16/17th Century Roman school

1580-1640

About the Item

Antichità Castelbarco SRLS is proud to present: Painter active in Rome late 16th - early 17th century Andromeda and the monster Oil on canvas 137 x 102 cm. - In frame 152 x 118 cm. The subject of the painting, derived from Ovid's Metamorphoses, is inspired by the myth of the princess Andromeda, daughter of the King of Ethiopia Cepheus and Queen Cassiopeia. The heroine's misfortune was to have a mother who praised her beauty as superior even to that of the Nereids, the sea nymphs daughters of the god Poseidon. According to mythology, the girl was therefore chained to a cliff and offered as a sacrifice to the terrible monster sent to appease the wrath of the nymphs, offended by Cassiopeia's unforgivable pride. Consider that the depiction of this myth, and in particular its climax with Andromeda offered to the monster, had great fortune in Roman Baroque painting of the late 16th and early 17th centuries, often commissioned as a subject to decorate the sumptuous private rooms of the aristocratic palaces of the City. The beautiful maiden is depicted here according to an iconography particularly dear to the artists of this period, with her pose evoking the classical goddesses, chained to a rock and, just as described in the words of Ovid, of great sensuality. ''as soon as he saw her (Perseus, her liberator) bound with his arms to the hard rock, if it had not been for a slight breeze moving her hair and the tepid weeping that descended from her eyes, he would have believed her to be a marble statue ... without knowing it he caught fire and was astonished and enraptured by the image of beauty he saw ...'' (Metamorphoses IV, vv. 672-683). Naked, with a transparent veil at the level of her pubis, her hands tied to the rock on the shore and her face tense with fear of the imminent danger, with the sea monster with its gaping jaws to which she must be sacrificed, this is how we find her in this painting, before Perseus arrives to save her. Considering therefore the context of reference, the canvas seems to have been created as a pretext to offer the viewer an image of an extremely sensual, almost erotic female nude, as an object of pleasure for aristocratic patrons of the 16th and 17th century, who took great delight in possessing such compositions and showing them off in their collections. Finally, despite her Ethiopian origins, Andromeda is here immortalised with snow-white skin, a detail that must have winked at the tastes and aesthetic canons of the patrons, who would certainly not have liked a figure with black skin as a beauty to be admired. The work, which is to be attributed to the hand of an author active in Rome at the turn of the century, is iconographically inspired by the figure of Andromeda painted by Polidoro da Caravaggio in one of the frescoes on the façade of the Palazzo del Marchese del Bufalo-Cancellieri, once located near the Trevi Fountain. The figure of the monster with gaping jaws, on the other hand, is taken from an engraving of Andromeda and the Monster by Agostino Carracci, dating from around 1590 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: The painting is sold complete with an attractive gilded frame and is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity and descriptive iconographic card. We take care of and organise the transport of the purchased works, both for Italy and abroad, through professional and insured carriers. Should you have the desire to see this or other works in person, we will be happy to welcome you to our new gallery in Riva del Garda, Viale Giuseppe Canella 18. We are waiting for you! Contact us for any information or to arrange a visit, we will be happy to answer you.
  • Attributed to:
    Painter active in Rome (1580 - 1640)
  • Creation Year:
    1580-1640
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 59.85 in (152 cm)Width: 46.46 in (118 cm)
  • Medium:
    Oil
  • Movement & Style:
    Old Masters
  • Period:
    16th Century
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Riva del Garda, IT
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU988112977542
More From This SellerView All
  • Van Den Bossche Alexander The Great Paint Oil on canvas 17/18th Century Flemish
    Located in Riva del Garda, IT
    Balthasar Van Den Bossche (Antwerp, 1681 - 1715) Alexander the Great and Campaspe in the studio of the painter Apelles The canvas was exhibited in Perugia (Museo di Palazzo della Pe...
    Category

    17th Century Old Masters Paintings

    Materials

    Oil

    Van Den Bossche Alexander The Great Paint Oil on canvas 17/18th Century Flemish

    Van Den Bossche Alexander The Great Paint Oil on canvas 17/18th Century Flemish , 1695-1721

  • Storm See Water Landscape Vernet 18th Century Paint Oil on canvas Old master
    Located in Riva del Garda, IT
    Claude-Joseph Vernet (Avignon, 1714 - Paris, 1789) workshop of The Storm on the Lighthouse 1750/60 Technique: Oil on canvas Dimensions: 48 x 67 cm / framed 77 x 93 cm We share a highly pleasing work, a splendid marine executed by a talented painter from the workshop of the Frenchman Claude-Joseph Vernet, depicting a coastal view set in a Mediterranean port with the sea still stormy. The focal point of the composition is the large lighthouse at the entrance to the port, which, due to the power of the sea, was unable to bring to safety the ship that had crashed against the rocks, while the silhouette of a second sailing ship can be glimpsed in the distance. The canvas shows in full the pictorial, chromatic and narrative characteristics of the great master Vernet's coastal landscapes, characterised by the inimitable atmospheric conditions always hovering between darkness and light, storm and calm, instilling the observer with contrasting feelings, made even more intense by a palette of vibrant and highly contrasting colours. A similar composition, from which our author must necessarily have drawn, also attributed to the workshop of Claude Joseph Vernet is to be found in France, in Nantes, at the Musée d'Arts.  The effects of the light create a visual drama in the contrast between the darkness of the rain-laden storm clouds and the gash of clear sky that is opening up, pierced by the timid rays of light. The real magic of the painting is the painter's highly personal use of light and colour, with chiaroscuro effects that accentuate its three-dimensionality and movement.
 The compositional typology, as well as the quality of execution and attention to detail we are dealing with, are typical elements of the 'prototypes' conceived by the master, later taken up around the middle of the 18th century by his best pupils. Similar versions can be found in the most important international museums and private collections, belonging to a large series of paintings that the master created, together with his collaborators, during his stay in Italy. Vernet lived in Rome for twenty years (1734 - 1753), becoming particularly popular with English aristocrats who stopped there on their Grand Tour. International fame followed him from Rome to France, and to his English and French clients he added German princes...
    Category

    18th Century Old Masters Paintings

    Materials

    Oil

    Storm See Water Landscape Vernet 18th Century Paint Oil on canvas Old master

    Storm See Water Landscape Vernet 18th Century Paint Oil on canvas Old master , 1750-1760

  • Christ Jesus Lama Religious Paint Oil on canvas 17/18 th Century Old master
    Located in Riva del Garda, IT
    Giovan Battista Lama (Naples, 1673 - 1748) workshop Exaltation of the Holy Cross with the Symbols of the Passion oil on canvas 84 x 135 cm. - with frame 98 x 148 cm. The proposed p...
    Category

    17th Century Old Masters Paintings

    Materials

    Oil

    Christ Jesus Lama Religious Paint Oil on canvas 17/18 th Century Old master

    Christ Jesus Lama Religious Paint Oil on canvas 17/18 th Century Old master , 1690-1740

  • Allegory Triumph Of Art Over Time De Visch Paint 18th Century Oil on canvas Art
    Located in Riva del Garda, IT
    Matthias de Visch (La Reninge, 1701 - Bruges, 1765) Signed and dated on the edge of the globe: M. De Visch 1739. Allegory of the triumph of Art over Time (Music and Astrology that c...
    Category

    18th Century Old Masters Paintings

    Materials

    Oil

    Allegory Triumph Of Art Over Time De Visch Paint 18th Century Oil on canvas Art

    Allegory Triumph Of Art Over Time De Visch Paint 18th Century Oil on canvas Art , 1739

  • Battle Horsemen Landscape Graziani Paint Oil on canvas 17th Century Old master
    Located in Riva del Garda, IT
    Francesco Graziani, known as Ciccio Napoletano (active in Naples and Rome in the second half of the 17th century) Battle with clash of horsemen Oil on canvas 95 x 130 cm In period ...
    Category

    17th Century Old Masters Paintings

    Materials

    Oil

    Battle Horsemen Landscape Graziani Paint Oil on canvas 17th Century Old master

    Battle Horsemen Landscape Graziani Paint Oil on canvas 17th Century Old master, 1650-1699

  • Temptations St. Anthony Teniers II Paint 17th Century Oil on canvas Flemish
    Located in Riva del Garda, IT
    David Teniers II, the Younger(Antwerp, 1610 - Brussels, 1690) Workshop of The Temptations of St. Anthony Abbot Oil on canvas 61 x 90 cm. - Framed 95 x 125 cm. The evocative theme o...
    Category

    17th Century Old Masters Paintings

    Materials

    Oil

    Temptations St. Anthony Teniers II Paint 17th Century Oil on canvas Flemish

    Temptations St. Anthony Teniers II Paint 17th Century Oil on canvas Flemish , 1650-1680

You May Also Like

Recently Viewed

View All

More Ways To Browse

Rome Painting
Painting Of Rome
16 Century Paintings
Great Masters Art
Painting Italy Rome
Italian Painting Rome
Paintings Of Rome Italy
Great Masters Painting
Italian Oil Painters
Rome City
Oil Painting By Italian Painters
16 Century Oil Paintings
Old Masters Painters
Oil Paintings Rome
Oil Paintings Of Rome
Rome Antique Art
Oil On Canvas Old Masters
Black Framed Antique Oil Paint
View All Popular Paintings Searches