Lot 57: Antonio Randa , Bologna 1577-1650 Rovigo? Juno and King Aeolus at the Cave of Winds oil on canvas

oil on canvas

measurements note 43 3/8 by 58 5/8 in.; 110 by 149 cm.

In the gallery of the Principe Ercolani, Bologna (as Scuola di Guido Reni, [based on an inscription]);
Private collection, South America;
From whom acquired in the 1990s by the present owner.

The scene in the present composition is taken from a scene in Virgil's Aeneid. Juno, the Queen of the God's, who was loyal to Troy's enemy, Carthage, vents her unrelenting anger towards Aeneas and his attempt to form a new Troy in Italy. To punish the Trojans, she approaches King Aeolus, son of Poseidon and ruler of the storm clouds, and asks him to summon the winds to wreak havoc upon the sailing Trojans, visible in the background of the composition. Randa, a native of Bologna, was first a student under Guido Reni, and later under Lucio Masari. In the year 1614 he arrived in Modena, where he gained favor in the court of the Duke of Modena, who subsequently appointed him his primary court painter. His works are chiefly located in the churches at Bologna and Ferrara. Randa's masterpiece is a work depicting La gloria del podestà Pietro Morosini in the Rotonda di Rovigo. We are grateful to Daniele Benati for identifying the present picture as a work by Antonio Randa, based on photographs.