Attributed to Carlo Bononi

Anonymous sale, New York, Christie's, 10 January 1990, lot 186 (as Attributed to Donato Creti);

Where acquired by Stanley Moss.

In the past this picture has been attributed to Donato Creti and Simone Cantarini, but more recently an intriguing attribution to the Ferrarese painter, Carlo Bononi, has been made. Bononi's art was informed by a number of varying influences—the unique and colorful tendencies of the mannerist artists active in Ferrara in the last days of the Este court, as well as the naturalistic Baroque. Later in his career he reacted strongly to the paintings of Guido Reni, and the present work reflects that influence. The fluffy bearded figure at left recalls the bust length saints painted by Reni (for example, the Saint Mark in the Bob Jones Gallery, Greenville, South Carolina). The elegant profile of the goddess at right—surely the impetus for the past attribution to Creti—finds parallels in other of Bononi’s other paintings.

While somewhat enigmatic, the subject of this painting appears to be an allegory. A winged female figure crowned with laurel is a right, holding a weapon over the head of a despairing demon in chains. She holds out to an older bearded man at left a crown of laurel. He is shown holding a baton and a book. The winged figure may be a representation of Victory, especially as she seems to have defeated a satanic figure, while the man at left may be a historian or poet.