FRANCESCO ALBANI (BOLOGNA 1578-1660)

This luminous, small-scale devotional copper by Francesco Albani is a recent rediscovery. It can be dated to circa 1630 after Albani had worked in Rome in close proximity to Domenichino. The latter's frescoes executed for the Palazzo Giustiniani in Bassano di Sutri (now Palazzo Odescalchi, Bassano Romano), specifically his Latona Nursing Apollo and Diana, may have inspired the present composition.

We are grateful to Catherine Puglisi for endorsing the attribution following firsthand inspection and for proposing the date.