(Rome 1702–1759)
An Allegory of Astrology,
oil on canvas, 146 x 108 cm, framed

Provenance:
Private collection, Rome;
where acquired by the present owner

We are grateful to Anna Coliva for confirming the attribution of the present painting and for her help in cataloguing this lot.

The Allegory of Astrology is depicted seated in a meditative pose, resting her head on her hand, as she gazes heavenwards, leaning against the celestial globe on which the constellations, are represented with their respective signs of the Zodiac. Placido Costanzi’s composition derives from Guido Reni’s celebrated invention of the Magdalene of 1633, in the Galleria Nazionale di Arte Antica, Rome. Both Guercino and Domenichino also used the same compositional pose; of these, Costanzi’s is closest to Domenichino’s Magdalene formerly in the Mahon collection and now in the National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin (inv. no. 4646).

Placido Costanzi continued the classicising style of painting in early eighteenth-century Rome, and his work reveals his close study of the work of Raphael, Annibale Carracci and Domenichino. Placido Costanzi’s Narcissus admiring his reflection in a pool of water, in a private collection, is the artist’s most directly comparable work to the present Allegory of Astrology. Both paintings reveal a similar characteristic, light softness in the description of the draperies, of the flesh tones and the hair, and in both, the fall of the drapery folds and the lyrical languor of the protagonists are repeated.

Placido Costanzi was born in Rome in 1702. He was the pupil of Francesco Trevisani and Benedetto Luti. He was able to establish himself as a successful independent artist supplying both ecclesiastical and secular commissions. In 1724, he supplied paintings for the collections of Cardinal Giulio Alberoni and for the Spanish ambassador, Cardinal Francesco Acquaviva d’Aragona, and in 1727 he was commissioned to fresco the nave of San Gregorio al Celio in Rome. Costanzi’s reputation was such that he attracted commissions from many Grand Tourists visiting Rome and in 1735 he was one of the artists chosen to supply paintings for the throne room of King Philip V of Spain in the palace of San Ildefondo, La Granja. He also supplied paintings to other international dignitaries including the Duke of Savoy and Frederic the Great of Russia.