Ubaldo Gandolfi (San Matteo della Decima, Bologna, 1728 - Ravenna, 1781)
Diana and Endymion and Perseus and Andromeda, 1770
oil on canvas; inv. P 18, P 16
provenance: palazzo Comunale (city hall), Gonfalonier's Quarter
These paintings were commissioned for the Appartamento del Gonfaloniere
in palazzo Comunale. Perseus and Andromeda has been dated to 1770 on
the basis of a preparatory sketch, and similar evidence could apply in
dating Diana and Endymion to the same year.
In both cases, mythological themes offered the artist an opportunity to
develop splendid nudes, in complex poses that emphasize their
grace and harmonious muscular form.
Ubaldo Gandolfi shows his skill as classicist along with the techniques
he learned from the Venetians: rich choice of colors and dense
brushstrokes. In the first painting, Diana, the goddess of the moon,
contemplates the handsome shepherd Endymion. She has cast him in a
magic sleep so as to love him more easily in silence.
In the second painting, Perseus descends out of the sky riding the
winged horse Pegasus to save Andromeda from the sea monster,
to whom she was offered as a sacrifice, chained to a rock.
