.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
After ceiling frescoes in the salone of the Villa Lante, on the Janiculum Hill, Rome (T. Carunichio, Villa Lante al Gianicolo: storia della fabbrica e cronaca degli abitatori, Rome, 2005, figs. 112-4, 118-9). The villa was designed by Giulio Romano and the frescoes were described by Vasari as being by his hand. However, Hartt does not believe the frescoes in the salone (which have since been transferred to the Palazzo Zuccari) are by Giulio Romano and others have attributed them to Polidoro da Caravaggio (F. Hartt, Giulio Romano, I, New Haven, 1958, pp. 61-2). The putti leading animals on a chariot derive from antique sculpture and Raphael's frescoes for the Villa Farnesina, Rome.
When Francesco Piranesi and Tommaso Piroli published these frescoes in a series of engravings in 1805 they were believed to be by Giulio, hence the inscription on each drawing. The present works are in the same direction as the frescoes, and it seems that Maestri probably knew the engravings as well, as his inscriptions beneath the framing lines are similar to the descriptions in the publication - interpretations of the different types of love.
When Francesco Piranesi and Tommaso Piroli published these frescoes in a series of engravings in 1805 they were believed to be by Giulio, hence the inscription on each drawing. The present works are in the same direction as the frescoes, and it seems that Maestri probably knew the engravings as well, as his inscriptions beneath the framing lines are similar to the descriptions in the publication - interpretations of the different types of love.