DOI chapter:
Painters, Sculptors, Architects, Engravers, and their Works
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61295#0036
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ALBANI.
frescoes of S.- Giacomo degli Spagnuoli, he fell sick, and by his
recommendation Albani was selected to finish them. He also painted
the mythological frescoes in the Verospi (now Torlonia), palace.
In the Borghe'se Gall., and at Turin, are his famous pictures of the
“Four Elements.” He also painted for the Duke of Mantua the
stories of “ Diana and Actaeon,” and “ Venus and Cupid.” Returning
to Rome, he painted the large pictures in the Tribune of the Ma-
donna della Pace and the “Martyrdom of S. Sebastian” in the
church of the same name. His best religious works at Bologna are the
“ Baptism of Christ ” in S. Giorgio, the “ Annunciation ” in S. Barto-
lomeo, and the “ Resurrection ” in S. Maria de Galeria. But his best
pictures are those of mythological and fanciful subjects, in which both
figures and landscapes were well done. Beauty was his characteristic
rather than power. Lanzi calls him the Anacreon of painting, and
says, “ Like that poet with his short odes, so Albani from his small
pictures acquired great reputation, and as the one sings of Venus
and the Loves, and maids and boys, so does the artist hold up to the
eye the same delicate and graceful subjects.” He had every advan-
tage in his own home for the perfection of such pictures. His villa
was well situated, and afforded him lovely views of nature. His wife
was beautiful, and bore him twelve children, so lovely that not only
he, but the sculptors Algardi and Fiammingo are said to have used
them as models. The works of Albani are in almost every large gal-
CUPIDS. BY ALBANI.
lery, for he either painted duplicates, or caused his scholars to paint
those to which he put the finishing touches. The “ Toilet of Venus,”
ALBANI.
frescoes of S.- Giacomo degli Spagnuoli, he fell sick, and by his
recommendation Albani was selected to finish them. He also painted
the mythological frescoes in the Verospi (now Torlonia), palace.
In the Borghe'se Gall., and at Turin, are his famous pictures of the
“Four Elements.” He also painted for the Duke of Mantua the
stories of “ Diana and Actaeon,” and “ Venus and Cupid.” Returning
to Rome, he painted the large pictures in the Tribune of the Ma-
donna della Pace and the “Martyrdom of S. Sebastian” in the
church of the same name. His best religious works at Bologna are the
“ Baptism of Christ ” in S. Giorgio, the “ Annunciation ” in S. Barto-
lomeo, and the “ Resurrection ” in S. Maria de Galeria. But his best
pictures are those of mythological and fanciful subjects, in which both
figures and landscapes were well done. Beauty was his characteristic
rather than power. Lanzi calls him the Anacreon of painting, and
says, “ Like that poet with his short odes, so Albani from his small
pictures acquired great reputation, and as the one sings of Venus
and the Loves, and maids and boys, so does the artist hold up to the
eye the same delicate and graceful subjects.” He had every advan-
tage in his own home for the perfection of such pictures. His villa
was well situated, and afforded him lovely views of nature. His wife
was beautiful, and bore him twelve children, so lovely that not only
he, but the sculptors Algardi and Fiammingo are said to have used
them as models. The works of Albani are in almost every large gal-
CUPIDS. BY ALBANI.
lery, for he either painted duplicates, or caused his scholars to paint
those to which he put the finishing touches. The “ Toilet of Venus,”