The Death of Adonis
Marcantonio Franceschini (1648–1729)
after 1692
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Despite the fact that his new Garden Palace in the Rossau quarter, just outside the walls of Vienna, was still only in the initial stages of construction, Prince Johann Adam Andreas I von Liechtenstein commissioned the Bolognese artist Marcantonio Franceschini to execute two cycles of paintings which were intended to decorate two of the staterooms on the piano nobile. In a letter dated 4 September 1692, which contained the exact terms of the contract, the prince stipulated that the paintings were to cover the walls of these rooms from floor to ceiling, acting as a substitute for tapestries. For this, various formats were required: circular paintings for the ceiling and colossal ceiling-height paintings that were nearly five meters tall, together with rectangular sopraportas and narrow panels to go above the windows. Work on these two large cycles with a total of 26 images took until 1700, when the final paintings arrived in Vienna from Bologna and the account was settled in full. Having been given the freedom to choose his subject, Franceschini decided on two cyclical depictions: one of the myths of Diana and the other a depiction of the story of Venus and Adonis. “The Death of Adonis” and “The Metamorphosis of the Dead Adonis” belong to the second cycle.
Paying no heed to the warnings of Venus, the Roman goddess of love, about the dangers of hunting boars, Adonis, symbol of male beauty, gave chase to one of these beasts and was attacked by it. He subsequently died of his injuries. In a letter dated 12 November 1692 Franceschini mentions ‘shepherds fleeing in the distance’ in connection with the narrative. However, when he painted the scene, he decided on a fleeing putto, which seems to be soaring out of the left side of the picture. Intended to be hung above a door, this painting depicts the fourth episode from the account of the myth by the Roman poet Ovid which describes the miraculous birth of Adonis from a tree, the love felt for him by the goddess Venus, and his death brought about by the boar he was hunting.
- Material/technique
- oil on canvas
- Measurements
- 175 × 210 cm
- Acquisition
- acquired in 1692 by Prince Johann Adam Andreas I von Liechtenstein
- Artists/makers/authors
- Marcantonio Franceschini
- Inventory number
- GE 6
- Provenance
- acquired in 1692 by Prince Johann Adam Andreas I von Liechtenstein
- Iconography
- Adonis
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