An Allegory

Domenico Guidobono

1710–20 · Oil on canvas · European Paintings

The fantastical subject of this painting has eluded scholars. The woman holding dividers over an open book with diagrams has been identified as Circe or Melissa, but is probably a more generic sorceress surrounded by symbols of her dark magic: skulls, a bat, and a chimera (a fantastical winged creature). The representation in the left foreground of a coati, a member of the raccoon family native to South America, is unique in early modern painting and was probably based on an animal living in a private zoo in Genoa.

Artist

Domenico Guidobono

Date

1710–20

Medium

Oil on canvas

Department

European Paintings

Credit line

Purchase, R. A. Farnsworth Gift, Gwynne Andrews, Charles B. Curtis, Rogers, Marquand, The Alfred N. Punnett Endowment, and Victor Wilbour Memorial Funds, 1970