Circle of Francesco Albani, Italian Mythological Scene, 1660, Oil on Board

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This important oil painting on wood depicts a subject that is very rare in the iconography of ancient mythological paintings: … Read more This important oil painting on wood depicts a subject that is very rare in the iconography of ancient mythological paintings: the birth of erittonio.
the extremely high quality of this extremely rare painting suggests that it was painted by an artist who frequented francesco albani's studio.
the period, the mythological subject, the harmony of the colours and, above all, the sublime quality of the flesh tones all point in this direction.
this artwork, never before on the market, comes from an important italian private collection

erythtonios (᾿ερυχϑόνιος, erychthonios)
born of hephaestus' love for athena, from the breast of ghe, who was impregnated by the god; welcomed by athena, who placed him in a basket together with one or two snakes, entrusting him to the care of cecrops' three daughters.
against the goddess's wishes, they opened the chest, from which emerged, according to different versions of the myth, either the child wrapped in snakes or a snake, which, in some versions, killed the girls, while in others, they threw themselves from the acropolis in fear. Erittonio, in the form of a snake, is welcomed by athena into her temple and curls up under the goddess's shield. Alongside this myth, of ionian origin, are others due to the doubling of the figures of e. And erechtheus
the scene of the birth appears in figurative tradition: in a melian terracotta relief from the early 5th century, ghe, half-emerging, holds out the baby erittonio. To athena, who welcomes him in the presence of cecrops; the same scene appears on various painted vases, such as a red-figure kölix by the painter of kodros, from tarquinia, in the berlin museums, dating from around 440 bc, where hephaestus also appears alongside cecrops.
a modest red-figure vase from camiro, in the british museum, depicts the moment when the fleeing cecropids discover the cista, from which the infant erittonio. Emerges between two snakes, greeting athena.
the moment when the chest was opened was depicted by phidias on the xiii and xiv s metopes of the parthenon, where cecrops and pandrosus appear in the first and erisichthon and aglaurus with the chest uncovered in the second.
a kölix in the style of the brygos painter in frankfurt, on the other hand, depicts the large snake e. Chasing the fleeing cecropids towards their father's palace.
luciano (de dom., 27) recalls a painting depicting the scene of the birth and the representation of the myth in pantomime on the theatre (de salt., 39).
bibliography: engelmann, in roscher, cc. 1303-1308, s. V. Erichthonios; p. Jacobstahl, die melischen reliefs, berlin 1931, pp. 96-98, plate 75 a; w. Züchner, in jahrbuch, lxv-lxvi, 1950-51, p. 200 ff., figs. 34-35; j. D. Beazley, red-fig., p. 720; g. Becatti, problemi fidiaci, florence 1951, p. 22.


francesco albani (bologna, august 17, 1578 – bologna, october 4, 1660) was an italian painter.

albani was born in bologna, papal states, in 1578.
his father was a silk merchant who intended his son to go into his own trade. By the age of twelve, however, he had become an apprentice to the competent mannerist painter denis calvaert, in whose studio he met guido reni. He soon followed reni to the so-called "academy" run by annibale, agostino, and ludovico carracci.
this studio fostered the careers of many painters of the bolognese school, including domenichino, massari, viola, lanfranco, giovanni francesco grimaldi, pietro faccini, remigio cantagallina, and guido reni.
in 1600, albani moved to rome to work on the fresco decoration of the gallery of the palazzo farnese, which was being completed by the studio of annibale carracci.
at this time, rome, under clement viii aldobrandini (1592–1605) was exhibiting some degree of administrative stability and renewed artistic patronage.
while pope clement had been born into a florentine family resident in urbino, his family was allied by marriage to the emilia-romagna and the farnese, since ranuccio i farnese, duke of parma had married margherita aldobrandini. Parma, like bologna, being part of the region of emilia-romagna, it was not surprising that cardinal odoardo farnese, ranuccio's brother, chose to patronise the carraccis from bologna, thereby establishing bolognese dominance of roman fresco painting for nearly two decades.
albani became one of annibale's most prominent apprentices. Using annibale's designs and assisted by lanfranco and sisto badalocchio, albani completed frescoes for the san diego chapel in san giacomo degli spagnoli between 1602 and 1607.
in 1606–7, albani completed the frescoes in the palazzo mattei di giove in rome. He later completed two other frescoes in the same palace, also on the theme of life of joseph.
in 1609, he completed the ceiling of a large hall with fall of phaeton and council of the gods for the palazzo giustiniani (now palazzo odescalchi) at bassano (di sutri) romano.
this work was commissioned by vincenzo giustiniani, also famous as a patron of caravaggio.
during 1612–14, albani completed the choir frescoes at the church of santa maria della pace which had just been remodelled by pietro da cortona.
in 1616 he painted ceiling frescoes of apollo and the seasons at palazzo verospi in via del corso for the cardinal fabrizio verospi.
in his later years, albani developed a mutual, though respectful, rivalry with the more successful guido reni, who was also heavily patronized by the aldobrandini, and under whom albani had worked at the chapel of the palazzo del quirinale.
albani's best frescoes are those on mythological subjects.
among the best of his sacred subjects are a st sebastian and an assumption of the virgin, both in the church of san sebastiano fuori le mura in rome.
he was among the italian painters to devote himself to painting cabinet pictures.
his mythological subjects include the sleeping venus, diana in the bath, danaë reclining, galatea on the sea, and europa on the bull.
a rare etching, the death of dido, is attributed to him. Carlo cignani, andrea sacchi, francesco mola, and giovanni francesco grimaldi were among his students.
following the death of his wife he returned to bologna, where he married a second time and lived until his death.
albani never acquired the monumentality or tenebrism that was quaking the contemporary world of painters, and is often derided for his lyric, cherubim-filled sweetness, which often has not yet shaken the mannerist elegance.
while albani's thematic would have appealed to poussin, he lacked the frenchman's muscular drama.
his style sometimes seems to have more in common with the decorative rococo than with the painting of his own time.
among his pupils were his brother giovanni battista albani, and others including giacinto bellini, girolamo bonini, giacinto campagna, antonio catalani, carlo cignani, giovanni maria galli, filippo menzani, bartolommeo morelli, andrea sacchi, andrea sghizzi, giovanni battista speranza, antonio maria del sole, emilio taruffi, and francesco vaccaro.
this piece is attributed to the mentioned designer/maker. It has no attribution mark and no
official proof of authenticity,
however it is well documented in design history. I take full responsibility for any authenticity



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