CARPIONI, Giulio

The subject is taken from Ovid, Metamorphoses (6: 382-400). Marsyas, a satyr and a skilful player of the flute, was challenged by Apollo to a musical contest; the winner to inflict whatever penalty he chose upon the loser. When the Muses inevitably chose Apollo, the god flayed Marsyas alive. Ovid relates how the river Marsyas in Phrygia sprung from the tears shed by satyrs at Marsyas’ death.

The Bacchanal was a very popular subject in the arts. The most significant depictions of the subject were painted by Venetian artists, Giovanni Bellini and Titian in the early sixteenth century. Over the centuries the subject has inspired not just visual artists but also poets, writers, composers and choreographers. The Bacchanal was a favourite theme of Carpioni, and his numerous treatments of the subject may be counted among his most original paintings.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 7 minutes):

Camille Saint-Saëns: Samson et Delila, Act III, Scene 2, Bacchanal

This unfinished painting represents a bacchanal, a celebration in honour of Bacchus, god of wine and of mystic delirium. Such celebrations had a licentious and orgiastic character. In the painting we see groups of fauns and nymphs, some dancing, others reclining, within a setting of classical ruins and an idealized landscape.

In the corners of the Pastor Fido camerino, as a connective element, are two unusual, extremely lively candelabra. Clearly sixteenth-century in style, they are imitations of earlier precedents, but are characterized by a sense of irony.

In the corners of the Pastor Fido camerino, as a connective element, are two unusual, extremely lively candelabra. Clearly sixteenth-century in style, they are imitations of earlier precedents, but are characterized by a sense of irony.

Giulio Carpioni was initially a pupil of Alessandro Varotari, known as ‘Il Padovanino’, who, in the early years of the seventeenth century, had reacted to the mortifying conformism of the late Mannerists by returning to the classicism of the young Titian for his inspiration. Carpioni subsequently refined the intentions of his master still further in a sort of ideal classic style through the polished sharpness of his line and the cold, brilliant range of colours he used. In his Crucifixion the devotional aims are conveyed through an atmosphere of abstract, formal severity.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 22 minutes):

Heinrich Sch�tz: Die sieben Worte am Kreuz SWV 478

The subject of this painting is taken from Ovid’s Metamorphoses (Book III: verses 339-510). The river nymph Liriope gave birth to a beautiful child whom she named Narcissus, and here she is shown taking her son to the blind seer Tiresias to enquire about his destiny. Tiresias pronounced that he would live a long life as long as he did not “come to know himself” but Narcissus famously wasted away after he fell in love with his own reflection. The tale concludes with Narcissus’ death and the transformation of his body into a flower, which to this day still bears his name.

The picture shows the wall in the Pastor Fido camerino, on the left with the compartment containing The Pursuit of Corsica by a Satyr. Above the door The Struggle between Erote and Anterote is represented. On the right a fresco by an unidentified sixteenth-century painter shows an episode taken from Torquato Tasso’s Aminta.

The picture shows the wall in the Pastor Fido camerino, on the right with the compartment containing Wounding of Dorinda, Mistaken by the Shepherd Silvio for One of His Prey. Above the door Cupid Taming the Lion is represented. On the left, a fresco by an unidentified sixteenth-century painter shows an episode taken from Torquato Tasso’s Aminta.

The Villa Caldogno is the result of one of Palladio’s early projects. Its construction began in 1542, at the behest of Losco Caldogno, an aristocrat and silk merchant from Vicenza, who had inherited an agricultural complex and fields in Caldogno the year before. Construction of the building and the decoration of the interiors extended over a long period of time, brought to completion only in 1570.

The fresco decoration of the loggia, the Central Hall, and two other rooms (Room of Scipio and Room of Sofonisba) was completed by Giovanni Antonio Fasolo and Giovanni Battista Zelotti by 1570. In 1646, the interior distribution of the space was modified and a new small room (camerino), connecting the Room of Scipio and the Room of Sofonisba, was frescoed by the young Venetian painter Giulio Carpioni. These frescoes illustrate scenes from Guarino Guarini’s Pastor Fido (The Faithful Shepherd). The room was partly frescoed earlier by an unidentified sixteenth-century painter with some episodes taken from Torquato Tasso’s Aminta.

Carpioni’s paintings in the camerino unfold in three compartments on the walls, each containing an episode from the poem; the compartments are embellished along the side edges with refined, colourful floral festoons. The scenes depict: The Coronation of the Nymph Amaryllis, Winner of the Kissing Competition; The Pursuit of Corsica by a Satyr; and the Wounding of Dorinda, Mistaken by the Shepherd Silvio for One of His Prey. In the corners of the room, as a connective element, are two unusual, extremely lively candelabra. Completing the cycle, above the two doors are the scenes Cupid Taming the Lion and The Struggle between Erote and Anterote.