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Lot Essay
This picture appears to be a study for a work in the Molinari Pradelli collection in Bologna (see C. Thiem, Giovanni Gioseffo Dal Sole: Dipinti, Affreschi, Disegni, Bologna, 1990, p. 113, no. Q.30, illustrated). That canvas develops the composition with the addition of an impressive arcade fronted with a Doric order. Initially, it had been considered by Roli to be a work by the young Donato Creti, but comparison with dal Sole's unquestionable Rinaldo and Armida in Castello Sforzesco, Milan (inv. 215), made clear that both were by the same hand.
Roli first identified the subject as Neoptolemus and Polyxena (R. Roli, Pittura Bolognese dal Cignani ai Gandolfi, Bologna, 1977, p.94, illustrated) without explaining his reasons. Polyxena was the youngest daughter of Priam and after the fall of Troy she was sacrificed at the tomb of Achilles, either because she had betrayed Achilles' vulnerable heel or because Achilles had fallen in love with her and his ghost demanded that she join him. However the composition includes none of the traditional attributes of a sacrifice and in the most popular telling of the story it is not Achilles' son, Neoptolemus, but a priest who sacrifices the princess (Ovid, Metamorphoses, XIII, ll.475 ff.).
Roli first identified the subject as Neoptolemus and Polyxena (R. Roli, Pittura Bolognese dal Cignani ai Gandolfi, Bologna, 1977, p.94, illustrated) without explaining his reasons. Polyxena was the youngest daughter of Priam and after the fall of Troy she was sacrificed at the tomb of Achilles, either because she had betrayed Achilles' vulnerable heel or because Achilles had fallen in love with her and his ghost demanded that she join him. However the composition includes none of the traditional attributes of a sacrifice and in the most popular telling of the story it is not Achilles' son, Neoptolemus, but a priest who sacrifices the princess (Ovid, Metamorphoses, XIII, ll.475 ff.).