.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Viviano Codazzi stages here two key episodes from the Iliad, the first showing the departure of Helen, wife of Menelaus, for the city of Troy, the moment that triggered the Trojan war. The second shows the incident when Thetis, the mother of Achilles, knowing that he would be killed if he fought in the war, disguised him as a young woman and entrusted him to the care of King Lycomedes, with whose daughters he lived. Odysseus, who had been sent by the Greeks to find the young hero, placed a sword, spear and shield amongst gifts ostensibly for the King's daughters. Whilst the girls chose more feminine objects for themselves, Achilles instinctively picked up the arms, thereby revealing his true identity.
Professor David Marshall confirmed the attribution of the works on the basis of photographs, at the time of the Paris sale (written communication 2006), dating the pair to the 1660s. The double arch of the first picture, he noted, is inspired by architectural designs by Giacomo Lauro, published in Antiquae Urbis Splendor, while the architecture in the background of the second is an adaptation of the Porta del Popolo, Rome, which was frequently depicted by Codazzi.
Professor David Marshall confirmed the attribution of the works on the basis of photographs, at the time of the Paris sale (written communication 2006), dating the pair to the 1660s. The double arch of the first picture, he noted, is inspired by architectural designs by Giacomo Lauro, published in Antiquae Urbis Splendor, while the architecture in the background of the second is an adaptation of the Porta del Popolo, Rome, which was frequently depicted by Codazzi.