The Abduction of Helen - SOLD

The Abduction or Rape of Helen is a mythological episode taken from Homer's Iliad, an epic poem that tells of the Trojan War, of heroes, of loves, of deceptions, of glory and riches. A literary text, sadly very topical, about the desires of human beings, more or less necessary, that great philosophers from Epicurus to Schopenhauer, arriving at Freud, father of modern psychoanalysis, have tried to understand and explain. At the center of the story is obviously the most beautiful woman in the world, Helen, daughter of Zeus and Leda, sister of Castor and Pollux (twins with a great love story), wife of Menelaus, king of Sparta, and finally, in love thanks to the little help of Aphrodite with Paris, second son of Priam, king of Troy. The splendidly painted canvas tells precisely of the abduction of Helen, a subject much replicated in seventeenth-century painting and not only, the central female figure illuminated by a beam of light intent on freeing herself from the clutches of Paris and his henchmen who are dragging her towards the boat that will take her to Troy. The painting is referable to the production of Giovanni Paolo Cervetto, a young man of lively intellect, a student of Valerio Castello "who imitated the master so well that his copies were sometimes taken for originals." [F. De Boni, Biography of artists, that is, Dictionary of the life and works of printers and musicians of every nation, Venice, 1852, p. 210]. Pleasant subject, the contained format allows easy placement. We thank Dr. Orlando for confirming the attribution. Dimensions: canvas 46 x 89 cm