Giordano won the commission from Marchese Francesco Riccardi (1648-1719) to decorate both the library and the gallery of the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi, Florence. He began to work on the vault of the gallery, but then returned to Naples (1683-1684), completing the ceiling between 1685 and 1686. The theme of this iconographically complex ceiling unites an Allegory of Human Progress with an Allegory of the Medici Family, the previous owners of the palace. In the center of the ceiling, in a burst of light, is an Apotheosis of the Medici; along the ceiling’s cove the idea of progress is conveyed through mythological scenes (set in landscapes) that are fresh and idyllic in mood and deeply influenced by Cortona’s radiant frescoes in the Sala della Stufa in the Palazzo Pitti. (Source: Grove Art Online; http://www.oxfordart online.com/)
Work_Description_Sou rce
Giordano won the commission from Marchese Francesco Riccardi (1648-1719) to decorate both the library and the gallery of the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi, Florence. He began to work on the vault of the gallery, but then returned to Naples (1683-1684), completing the ceiling between 1685 and 1686. The theme of this iconographically complex ceiling unites an Allegory of Human Progress with an Allegory of the Medici Family, the previous owners of the palace. In the center of the ceiling, in a burst of light, is an Apotheosis of the Medici; along the ceiling’s cove the idea of progress is conveyed through mythological scenes (set in landscapes) that are fresh and idyllic in mood and deeply influenced by Cortona’s radiant frescoes in the Sala della Stufa in the Palazzo Pitti. (Source: Grove Art Online; http://www.oxfordart online.com/)
Description
Image Description:
Arriving suddenly and unexpectedly like the end of life, Pluto, god of the underworld, carries off Proserpine, the daughter of Ceres, forcing her to abandon the blossoming and luxuriant world of nature. Preceding Pluto as he heads towards the underworld, are Hercules dressed in the skin of a wild animal, Mars, with a helmet in the shape of a wolf, the Harpies in flight and the Furies with their flaming torches.
Image_Description
Arriving suddenly and unexpectedly like the end of life, Pluto, god of the underworld, carries off Proserpine, the daughter of Ceres, forcing her to abandon the blossoming and luxuriant world of nature. Preceding Pluto as he heads towards the underworld, are Hercules dressed in the skin of a wild animal, Mars, with a helmet in the shape of a wolf, the Harpies in flight and the Furies with their flaming torches.
