Placido Costanzi (Rome 1702-1759)

This beautifully preserved depiction of Diana and Endymion is a fine example of Constanzi's fluid and elegant style that the artist developed when studying under Benedetto Luti in Rome. Among his most significant commissions are two Scenes from the Life of Cardinal Chigi Zondadari, one of which is now in the Minneapolis Institute of Art, and a fresco series for the nave of S. Gregorio Alcelio, Rome, completed in 1727. Costanzi was president of both the Accademia di S. Luca and the Virtuosi al Pantheon, and chose to leave his estate jointly to these two institutions, which maintained ownership of his house in Rome until 1923. The attribution to Costanzi was first proposed by Erich Schleier in 1969. We are grateful to Professor Giancarlo Sestieri for confirming the attribution on the basis of a photograph.