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| Pietro de Angelis (Ponzano - Rome 1810)
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| Allegory
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Signed in pen and brown ink, lower left Eques/ de Angelis Fecit / Romanus
Pen and brown ink over black chalk, watercolour, black ink and wash framing lines
Verso Domenico de Angelis von Ponzano, historien maler und Schüler d. Benefiall ..., Mitglied der Accademia di S. Lucca.
493 x 342 mm
Little is known of the noble painter and draughtsman, Pietro de Angelis, who, according to the inscription on this drawing, was a pupil of the Roman painter Marco Benefial, who taught a the Academia di San Luca for a brief period in the second half of the 1740s to circa 1755. Despite our lack of knowledge, de Angelis is a characteristic draughtsman who favoured finished drawings executed with ample use of watercolour. In addition, like the present sheet, his drawings are often signed and inscribed. Our drawing shows a complex allegory which involves a bearded man in the centre who is clad in a red ermine-lined mantle. He is holding a book in his right hand with an owl on top, clearly symbolizing wisdom. He is surrounded by various allegories, such as the one on the left which seems to have various meanings: justice, abundance (cornucopia), possibly medicine, or more generally the sciences (caduceus, book, oil lamp); in the centre there is a laurel-crowned allegory, which seems to represent architecture (compass) and abundance (rudder), again, may indicate abundance. Behind the man is another female figure, reading with the help of an oil lamp, possibly representing science. The meaning of the Cerberus-like animal - with heads of a lion, a hyena, and a dog – seems less clear than that of a fish and a mole at the king’s feet is, probably symbolizing the animals of the sea and the earth.
Below is man, sitting on what appears to be the goods from various parts of the world, perhaps symbolizing the discovery by sea of the New World, hinted at by the sailing boat in the lower right. He is possibly recording either events of history or, more likely, scientific study. At the top, a winged figure and putti are holding an oval cartouche, presumably destined to contain a portrait of a noble man in whose honour this allegory was conceived. Braced by the various virtues represented in the middle register, he was in the position to act as a patron of the scientific endeavours indicated below.
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| Private Collection
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P. and D. Colnaghi and Co., Ltd - 15 Old Bond Street London W1S 4AX, United Kingdom Tel: +44-20-7491 7408 Fax: +44-20-7491 8851 contact@colnaghi.co.uk
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