Offered by Antichità Castelbarco
Ariadne on the Island of Naxos
Workshop of Guido Reni (Bologna, 1575 - Bologna, 1642)
Attributable to Francesco Gessi (Bologna 1588 - 1649)
Oil on canvas
114 x 86
in frame 128 x 105 cm.
The subject of this beautiful painting is a comely maiden seated on the rocks, mischievously discreet and with a sweetly distracted gaze, while the intense blue of a crystal-clear sea forms the background, making her sculptural body stand out and embellishing the composition.
Although with variants, the invention of this charming image is taken from mythological iconography, and derives from a segment of Guido Reni's painting of Bacchus and Ariadne, painted around 1614 for the Bolognese collector Cesare Rinaldi (1559-1636), and later purchased by Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni for his Roman residence, and today housed in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (oil on canvas, 86 x 96 cm.
The female figure is thus to be identified with the beautiful Ariadne, daughter of the Cretan king Minos, who, after falling in love with Theseus and helping him to escape from the labyrinth of the monstrous Minotaur, was abandoned by the ungrateful hero on the island of Naxos, whose ships can be seen receding into the horizon. According to the Greek Philostratus (Imagines, 1.15), however, the maiden was saved by the god Bacchus, who found her sleeping on the shores, beautiful and completely naked, fell madly in love with her and asked her if she wanted to be his wife.
In the field of painting, the figure of Ariadne was often borrowed, especially from the Renaissance onwards, under the pretext of staging the famous Greek myth, but also as an Allegory of profane love.
It is a very refined iconographic subject, inspired by cultured literary models and therefore appreciated by the collectors of the time, who at the same time adored decorating their homes with figures with graceful nudity.
The nudity is typically Rhenish - with those features that would later become distinctive elements of Bolognese classicism - and tends to idealise the subject depicted, often making him assume classical poses, almost like an antique statue, and ethereal expressions, such as the candid face of the young woman.
This is a composition that, executed in the middle of the 17th century, can probably be associated with the hand of a painter from Guido Reni's entourage, in particular Francesco Gessi (Bologna 1588 - 1649), one of his most faithful followers.
One of the first pupils to grow up in Guido Reni's workshop, he represented, together with Giovan Andrea Sirani, the continuity of his master's classicist tradition in the local area.
As can be seen in the canvas on show, Gessi continued his style, cloaking his works in a diffused light, highlighting shapes and soft drapery, while the dreamy physiognomy and delicate colour scale infuse the scene with an Arcadian and theatrical classicism.
Frequenting Guido's prestigious workshop for a decade, from 1614 to 1624, his early production is therefore inspired by the master, carefully imitating his style and reproducing his most famous iconographies, as in this case, where we see an extrapolated fragment of a more complex composition.
Guido Reni, Bacchus and Ariadne
oil on canvas, 96.52 × 86.36 cm
Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)
Delevery information :
We take care of and organise the transport of the purchased works, both for Italy and abroad, through professional and insured carriers.
We take great care We personally take care of the packaging, to which we devote a great deal of care: each work is carefully packed, first with arti- cle material, then with a custom-made wooden box.
Should you have the desire to see this or other works in person, we would be happy to welcome you to our gallery in Riva del Garda, Viale Giuseppe Canella 18, we are always open by appointment only.
