Author
Giovanni Domenico Lombardi - detto l’Omino
Biography
(Lucca 1682 - 1751)
Date
Early 18th century
Technique
Oil on canvas
Size
70 x 65 cm
Description:
Giovanni Domenico Lombardi's practice of creating "genre paintings" is referred in the chronicles of the time to his familiarity he had in painting still-lifes, landscapes, “bambocciate” and allegorical figures.
Two splendid pendant examples of allegorical genre paintings are preserved in the Luzzetti Collection: Summer and Autumn.
The protagonist of Summer is a young woman holding ears of wheat and a scythe to herself while with the other she indicates something to the hound accompanying her.
Many keys have been suggested for this theme, among the many that Cesare Ripa describes in his book Iconologia, where we find the same typological and stylistic affinities that are represented for Summer, here a symbol of abundance and drought typical of the season.