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Allegoria dell'Amore Celeste Siena
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Artist: Sodoma
Year: 1504 circa
Current location: Collezione Chigi Saracini
DESCRIPTIVE INFORMATION
The painting depicts a monumental female figure dressed in the ancient style, characterized by a yellow tunic, a red-green robe, a bare breast, and a plumed helmet on her head.
This figure iconographically combines the wisdom of Minerva (the helmet) with the spiritual purity of celestial Venus (the partial nudity).
The woman performs two contrasting actions: with her left hand, she feeds a fire burning inside a small, protected vase, while with her right hand, she extinguishes the flames blazing from a brazier below.
The moral meaning is clearly expressed by two Latin inscriptions inserted into the composition: "CELESTES" (near the upper vase) and "STINSI TERENAS" (Quench earthly passions, on the lower column).
The work invites the viewer to nurture spiritual and divine love over carnal passions and instincts.
This philosophical theme was particularly widespread in the Neoplatonic circles of fifteenth-century Florence, a culture with which Sodoma came into contact after moving to Tuscany.
Allegoria dell'Amore Celeste.jpeg)