Alessandro Turchi, called l'Orbetto

This dramatically lit, large-scale canvas is characteristic of Turchi's mature Roman style, and in both handling and subject matter it embraces Roman precedent as its inspiration. The subject, Bellona with Romulus and Remus, would have been immediately recognizable and likely in high demand in the fashionable circles within Turchi's clientele given its profane and ancient subject matter. Bellona, a Roman war goddess, is variably known as the wife and sister of Mars, the Roman God of war, and in depicting her with Mars' children Romulus and Remus, Turchi has presented a classic Roman image of the highest order. Bellona is recognized by her typical attributes: a plumed helmet, metal breastplate, and spear. Rome's founders, Romulus and Remus, are immediately recognizable as they suckle the divine she-wolf that protects the infants after being cast away by their grandfather's brother, Amulius. 

Turchi utilizes an overall classic Caravaggesque lighting scheme, with a strong use of chiaroscuro in which the single source of light washes over the composition from top left, creating deep shadows in the folds of Bellona's flowing drapery. This dramatic lighting contrasts beautifully with a colorful palette and classicising figures, both inspired by Annibale Carracci and Domenichino. The facial type of Bellona, with her smooth, elongated, features, recalls that of Venus in Turchi's Venus mourning Adonis.¹

Born in Verona, Turchi received his initial training in the studio of Felice Brusasorci and moved to Rome circa 1614. The popular moniker “Orbetto” (meaning "little blind one") by which he appears in many early records is likely to derive from his guiding his father, Silvestro, who had been blinded in an accident at work. By 1619 he had settled permanently in Rome, becoming a member of the Accademia of San Luca of which he would be elected Principe in 1637, attesting to his high standing among his contemporaries and almost certainly an affiliation with the powerful Barberini family.

1. Private collection, see D. Scaglietti Kelescian, Alessandro Turchi, detto l'Orbetto, 1578 - 1649, exhibition catalogue, Milan 1999, p. 149, reproduced.