The combat between the Horatii and Curiatii

This elegant composition on vellum is a characteristic work by Francesco Allegrini. The artist, originally from Gubbio in Umbria, became a pupil of Giuseppe Cesari, il Cavalier d’Arpino, in Rome. Allegrini was a skilled and prolific draftsman. The artist’s favorite subjects were battle scenes, treated both in large fresco compositions and in smaller works such as the present one (see R. Lefevre, ‘Appunti sugli Allegrini da Gubbio pittori del Seicento’, Studi Secenteschi, IX, 1969, pp. 125-165). Allegrini’s source of inspiration for the present scene was the monumental fresco with the Battle of the Horatii and Curiatii executed by his master in the Palazzo dei Conservatori in Rome (see S. Guarino and P. Masini, Gli affreschi del Palazzo dei Conservatori, Milan, 2008, pp. 14-30).