Allegories of the Arts: modelli for ceiling decorations

A pupil of Francesco Mancini, Domenico Corvi won the first prize at the Accademia di San Luca in 1750, to which he was elected a full member in 1756. His early career was largely devoted to the decoration of churches in and around Rome. Corvi'’s style combines Baroque elements of light and colour with more classical elements of composition, indicative of the growing influence of Pompeo Batoni and Corrado Giaquinto. In 1764 to 1780 Corvi, at the height of his career, began increasingly to work for private patrons, the most important of which being the Borghese, Doria and Colonna families. His classical style had a considerable influence on his pupils Giuseppe Cades and Vincenzo Camuccini.
The style of the present pictures is comparable to the bozzetto for the ceiling in the Palazzo Borghese (Lemme collection, Paris) which dates from 1773-1774.