ELISABETTA SIRANI (Bologna 1638-1665)

'Omnia vincit Amor'

Details

ELISABETTA SIRANI (Bologna 1638-1665)
'Omnia vincit Amor'
oil on canvas
33 x 27 in. (83.7 x 68.6 cm.)

Provenance

Saul Cohen, Rockville, CT.

Literature

C.C. Malvasia, Felsina Pittrice, Vite de Pittori Bolognesi, Bologna, 1678, II, p. 471, where included in the list made in 1664 by the artist of her own works, 'Un Amorino, che sedendo sopra un panno rosso, che gli fa ancora il postergale, con la destra mano cenna ad alcuni libri, tenendo nella sinistra scettro e corona di lauro, ...'

Lot Essay

The theme of this work comes from a quotation from Virgil's Eclogues (10:69): 'Omnia Vincit Amor' - 'Love Conquers All'. In the present composition Love is depicted as triumphant over learning and the arts, as symbolized by the books and laurel crown. It is recorded under the year 1662 in Sirani's list of her own works published in Malvasia's Felsina Pittrice (see literature).

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