Offered by Antichità Castelbarco
Giacomo Stella (Brescia 1545 - Rome 1630)
Allegory of the fortress
Oil painting on canvas
192 x 74 cm., In golden frame 198 x 81 cm.
The work is accompanied by critical study drawn up by prof. Emilio Negro (Bologna)
The beautiful allegorical composition in question, which portrays a leafy -figure warrior, was originally designed to be part of the representative furnishings of a large noble palace and represents the personification of the cardinal virtue of the fortress.
It is one of the four virtues that, together with wisdom, temperance and justice were classified by Plato in his Phaedrus, and then adopted also by the Christian religion to enclose the
Main human virtues, equated to the pillars of a life dedicated to good and righteousness.
Specifically, the fortress is the moral virtue that, in difficulties, ensures firmness and constancy in the search for good. It strengthens the decision to resist temptations and overcome obstacles in moral life, giving the courage to reach the renunciation and sacrifice of one's life to defend a just cause.
The iconographic representation, in our case, sees a powerful male figure, a soldier in a Roman warrior dress, with helmet, sword and shield, symbols of the domain that this virtue exercises on the soul of men who intend to act as good. He wears a floating red cloak, color of passion, commitment and also of the blood that he is determined to pour in order to achieve his purpose of him.
He then impersonates the archetype of the warrior and the martyr, as he is ready to fight and defend his ideals up to the extreme sacrifice.
The work, whose execution expresses elegance and power at the same time, is attributable to Giacomo Stella (Brescia 1545 - Rome 1630), a significant mannerist artist active between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Brescia of origin but active especially in Rome, where He moved to a young age, under the pontificates of Gregorio XIII (1572-1585) and the successors Sixtus V (1585-1590) and Urban VIII.
In the papal city he came into contact with Girolamo Muziano and Cesare Nebbia, active in many of the main projects of the late 16th century commissioned by the papacy. Among these, the most important is the fresco of one of the major religious works of the time, the construction and decoration of the Sistine Chapel in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore (not to be confused with that of the Vatican), destined to become a funeral chapel for Pope Sixtus V
Painter of great temperament and equipped with a beautiful naturalist shot, the only hand of him must certainly be the great frescoes of the 'resurrection' and the 'creation of Eva', at the Santa Santa in Rome.
The painting is in good conservative condition.
The painting is sold together with a pleasant frame in golden wood.
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.
