“Circe”, attributed to Simone Brentana, belongs to Venetian painting between the late 17th and early 18th centuries, a period in which the artist, born in Venice and later active in Verona, developed a distinctive style attentive to the construction of light and the elegant rendering of the figure.
The subject refers to the sorceress Circe, the celebrated character from the “Odyssey”, capable of transforming men into animals through her magical powers. In this work, the female figure is depicted in a reclining and monumental pose, holding a small vessel in her right hand and a slender wand in her left. Furthermore, the presence of the lion beside the figure reinforces the reference to the sorceress’s enchanting powers and the mythological dimension of the scene.
From a compositional perspective, the painting is based on a measured balance between the body, drapery and symbolic attributes. Broad areas of pink, white and green create a solemn figure, while the darker background focuses attention on the protagonist. However, the image does not assume a dramatic tone; instead, a restrained sensuality prevails, conveyed through the softness of the tonal transitions and the calmness of the pose. “Circe” is a work of considerable interest to collectors of Old Master paintings with mythological subjects, combining literary narrative, decorative elegance and Venetian artistic culture.
Description: Oil on canvas, H 166 × 115 cm.
Hammer Price: € 24.800,00
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