Jacopo AMIGONI - Juno receives the head of Argos (about 1730)

 

Juno receives the head of Argos
1730 circa
Oil painting on canvas (296x305 cm)
Moor Park, Rickmansworth

*******

Jupiter has to hide Io from his wife's anger, for this he transforms her into a heifer. Unaware, Juno entrusts the heifer / Io to the care of Argos with a hundred eyes. Jupiter cannot accept being too far from beloved Io and asks Mercury to free her from the custody of Argos and to do this she must kill the giant. Juno decides to put the giant's hundred eyes on the tail of the animal sacred to her: the peacock.

Jacopo Amigoni immortalizes the moment when Juno receives the giant's head.

His brushstrokes are soft and sensual, the colors bright and the lines very (perhaps too much) graceful: all this to respect the balanced rules of Rococo.

Amigoni achieved fame across the Channel and in Europe, like many of his contemporaries; his most valuable works are found in Covent Garden and Moor Park.

According to some historical reconstructions, Jacopo Amigoni returning from London to his beloved and native Venice in 1746 met Canaletto and convinced him to go to London.

Thanks to his portraits of nobles and royalty, Jacopo Amigoni was able to afford a comfortable and satisfying life.

Comparing artists: Boucher, Fragonard, Gentileschi, Luini, Tiepolo