Object Description
A large antique oil on canvas painting entitled “Sacrifice to Minerva”, circle of Francesco Solimena, attributed to Odoardo Vicinelli, dating from the mid 18th Century.
The painting depicts a man standing, behind an altar, shielding himself from a kindling fire. To the left of the altar is seated Minerva, in classical flowing white robes, surrounded by a crowd of people.
Francesco Solimena (4 October 1657 – 3 April 1747) was a prolific Italian painter of the Baroque era, one of an established family of painters and draughtsmen.
Verso: Title, describtion, inventory marks and later restoration stamp: Aitken Dott & Son, Edinburgh 15 July 1970.
Also bears an inscription attributing the painting to Odoardo Vicinelli:
Odoardo Vicinelli, scholar of Giovanni Maria Morandi, flourished about 1750
an excellent master of the Venetian and Roman Schools,
Provenance:
Formerly at Letterfourie, Morayshire, and by descent, through the Gordon family
Letterfourie House is a Georgian house in Moray Scotland, built by Robert Adam and completed in 1773 for Clan Gordon, also known as the House of Gordon, a Scottish clan.
Condition:
In really excellent condition, please see photos for confirmation.
Dimensions in cm:
Height 87 x Width 168 x Depth 5
Height 73 x Width 156
Dimensions in inches:
Height 2 foot, 10 inches x Width 5 foot, 6 inches x Depth 2 inches
Height 2 foot, 5 inches x Width 5 feet, 1 inch
Odoardo Vicinelli (1684–1755)
was an Italian painter of the late-Baroque period.He trained under Giovanni Maria Morandi of Florence. In Rome he also worked with Pietro Nelli. He painted a Madonna and Child with Saints Ignatius, Francesco Borgia, Stanislao Kostka, Aloysius Gonzaga, Francis Xavier, and the blessed Claudio Acquaviva now at the Diocesan Museum next the Sermoneta Cathedral.
Minerva
is the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. Minerva is not a patron of violence such as Mars, but of defensive war only. From the second century BC onward, the Romans equated her with the Greek goddess Athena. Minerva is one of the three Roman deities in the Capitoline Triad, along with Jupiter and Juno.
She was the virgin goddess of music, poetry, medicine, wisdom, commerce, weaving, and the crafts. She is often depicted with her sacred creature, an owl usually named as the “owl of Minerva”, which symbolised her association with wisdom and knowledge as well as, less frequently, the snake and the olive tree. Minerva is commonly depicted as tall with an athletic and muscular build, as well as wearing armour and carrying a spear. As the most important Roman goddess, she is highly revered, honored, and respected. Marcus Terentius Varro considered her to be ideas and the plan for the universe personified.
Origin
Following the Greek myths around Athena, she was born of Metis, who had been swallowed by Jupiter, and burst from her father’s head, fully armed and clad in armour. Jupiter had sex with the titaness Metis, which resulted in her attempting to change shape (or shapeshift) to escape him. Jupiter then recalled the prophecy that his own child would overthrow him as he had Saturn, and in turn, Saturn had Caelus. Fearing that their child would be male, and would grow stronger than he was and rule the Heavens in his place, Jupiter swallowed Metis whole after tricking her into turning herself into a fly. The Titaness gave birth to Minerva and forged weapons and armour for her child while within Jupiter’s body. In some versions of the story, Metis continued to live inside of Jupiter’s mind as the source of his wisdom. Others say she was simply a vessel for the birth of Minerva. The constant pounding and ringing left Jupiter with agonizing pain. To relieve the pain, Vulcan used a hammer to split Jupiter’s head and, from the cleft, Minerva emerged, whole, adult, and in full battle armour.
Presence in mythology
Minerva is a prominent figure in Roman mythology. She appears throughout many famous myths. Many of the stories of her Greek counterpart Athena are attributed to Minerva in Roman mythology, such as that of the naming of Athens resulting from a competition between Minerva and Neptune, in which Minerva created the olive tree.
Aitken Dott & Son 1880-1984 – traded at different addresses and under different names.
Aitken Dott Ltd 1984-1988, Aitken Dott plc from 1988. At Lady Lawson St, Edinburgh 1842, 12 South St David St 1844-1847, 16 South St David St 1846-1863, 14-16 South St David St 1863-1874, 26 South Castle St or Castle St 1874-1982, 94 George St 1982-1993, 16 Dundas St, EH3 6HZ from 1993. Carvers and gilders, frame makers, artists’ colourmen, from the 1890s also fine art dealers and picture restorers.
This leading Edinburgh business was founded by Aitken Dott (1815-92) as carvers, gilders and frame makers in 1842 and developed by his son Peter McOmish Dott (1856-1934) to become fine art dealers as ‘The Scottish Gallery’. It was continued by George Proudfoot (1873-1943) and by subsequent owners and still trades today.
Our reference: A2800