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Felice Torelli (Verona, 1667 - Bologna, 1748)
Diana and Endymion, Oval, 17th century
Oil painting on canvas
175 cm, in frame diameter 213 cm
Expert opinion by professor Claudio Strinati: «It is a very refined painting, born to tell the truth, in format rectangular and then expanded on all sides to adapt it to an oval format probably imposed by a new frame, as is very evident even to a simple observation with the naked eye.The painting tells with extreme finesse and delicacy, certainly inferred from similar prototypes by Francesco Albani, the famous pupil of Annibale Carracci, the famous mythological tale of the goddess Diana, goddess of the moon who appears to the beloved sleeping shepherd Endymion to join him generating, according to a particularly widespread version of the fable, only daughters and all of superb beauty.
The painting in question appears inspired by some fake iconographics attributable above all to the Bolognese tradition and in particular to Guercino. The author is, in fact, an illustrious descendant of Guercino, Felice Torelli, originally from Verona but trained, and very well, at the glorious school of from Bologna, in fact, Gian Gioseffo del Sole whose influence on our painting appears evident.
Torelli, member of a distinguished family of artists (his brother Giuseppe was great musician) developed a stylistic line of consecration of painting mythological of which our painting is an excellent demonstration.Our work dates back to the beginning of the eighteenth century when Torelli, at the height of a glorious career, he founded the famous Academy in Bologna Clementina. In that period he worked a lot on mythological painting, for example to the masterpiece of Diana and the Nymphs now preserved in the National Museum in Warsaw with which our painting can be usefully
compared.
Excellent state of conservation.
Truely,
Claudio Strinati»