Andromeda

The work, which became part of the museum in 1867 as a gift from Laura Maria Antonelli Clementi, was originally part of a cycle of frescoes that once decorated the walls of a palace of the early sixteenth century, standing on what is now Corso Palladio. The building (now the headquarters of the Banca Nazionale del Lavoro), originally owned by the Marchesi branch of the Capra family, changed hands several times before becoming the property of Laura Maria’s husband, Giambattista Clementi, who had it restored. The fresco was probably detached at the time of the restructuring work ordered by Clementi.

The female character shown here has recently been identified (Pancheri) as Andromeda: the spiral forms at her feet may in fact be recognised as the tentacles of the sea creature that held her prisoner. Perseus succeeded in defeating the terrible monster and freeing the girl, then took her as his wife. The full forms of the female nude, standing out against an elegant architectural background and modelled by the light, help make the painting a “beautiful glimpse of elegant and intellectual classicism, which seems to acquire volume and movement even in the foreshortened face, rapidly twisting” (Villa).

Louis Dorigny, who also made cycles of frescoes at the Rotonda and the Villa della Torre, gives proof of his considerable gifts as a fresco painter, thanks to which he was one of the artists most in demand among the nobility of the Veneto for the decoration of villas and palaces.