The Abduction of Ganymede
attributed to Giovanni Maria Bottalla (Savona 1613 - Milan 1644)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1630 - 1669
Materials
Distemper on canvas
Measurements
3658 x 724 mm (144 x 28 1/2 in)
Place of origin
Bologna
Order this imageCollection
Kingston Lacy Estate, Dorset
NT 1257080.3
Caption
According to classical mythology and told in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Zeus (or Jupiter) fell in love with the mortal Ganymede. He transforms himself into a giant eagle and bears Ganymede aloft whilst his dog and fellow-shepherd, possibly his father, Tros leap to reach up to him without success. Bottalla studied painting in Rome and one of his patrons there gave him the flattering nickname of il Raffaellino (little Raphael). He moved to Genoa in the early 1640s and began work on monochrome frescoes in the Palazzo Ayrolo Negrone but died before finishing them. According to records, this series, painted in oil and distemper, known in Genoa as succhi d’erbe (juices of plants) in order to look like a tapestry, was bought for Kingston Lacy from a Palazzo Cambiaso in Genoa by William Bankes (1786–1855) as by Annibale Carracci, and he regarded them as his finest acquisitions.
Summary
Distemper painting on herringbone canvas, The Abduction of Ganymede, attributed to Giovanni Maria Bottalla (il Raffaellino) (Savona 1613 - Milan 1644), mid-17th century. Zeus, in the form of an eagle bears Ganymede aloft, as his dog and a fellow-shepherd (or his father, Tros?) unavailingly leap or reach up to him.
Provenance
acquired by William John Bankes (1786-1855), before 1844, from a palazzo Cambiaso, Genoa; bequeathed by (Henry John) Ralph Bankes (1902 – 1981) to the National Trust, together with the estates of Corfe Castle and Kingston Lacy and its entire contents in 1981
Marks and inscriptions
GANYMEDE / ANNIBALE CARRACCI (painted in black on fixed gilt label, on wall below the hanging)
Makers and roles
attributed to Giovanni Maria Bottalla (Savona 1613 - Milan 1644), artist Italian (Bolognese) School, artist Annibale Carracci (Bologna 1560 - Rome 1609), artist