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Res. Katalogtext: Description in Italian Paintings: Three Centuries of Collecting, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, 2015, cat.no. 31:


FORMER INV. NOS.: 208 (M. 1804); KM 865.

TECHNICAL NOTES: Inscriptions verso: “208”; paper labels: 
“C. Cignani-Carro del Sole. Mart. 208”; “KM 865 Cignani Phoebus på
sin char.utg.”; “Carlo’ Cignani 1628–(17)19 Itali(ensk) mästare. Ämne: 
(Phoeb)us på sin vagn ut(delar) blomster”. The support is a single
piece of plain-weave linen fabric. It has been lined with glue and 
mounted on a non-original strainer. The ground is grey. The motif,
Apollo, is oval and there are four painted black corners,
making the painting rectangular. 
There are some paint losses, but otherwise the painting is in fair condition. 
Documented restorations: 1835: Restored by Heidecken; 
1972: Consolidation of flaking colour, cleaning,filling, retouching, varnish.

PROVENANCE: Martelli 1804.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Sander 1872–76, III, p. 111, no. 
208 (as Cignani);
Prytz and Eriksson 2010, p. 81 (as Cignani).
Phoebus is Apollo in his role as the god of light or
the sun-god in Roman mythology. In this painting
he is represented distributing flowers from
his biga, a two-horsed chariot, surrounded by
three putti. The two horses seem to be carrying
the chariot away to the left of the image, and the
wind is blowing the horses’ manes and Apollo’s red
cloak in the same direction.

The theme of Apollo or Phoebus in his chariot
is fairly frequent in Bolognese painting. The
motif is already common in ancient mosaics and
marble friezes, and in the early 17th century it
reappears in Italian, and particularly Bolognese,
painting. The most important representation
must be Guido Reni’s famous fresco Aurora, in
the Casino dell’Aurora of the Palazzo Pallavicini-
Rospigliosi in Rome. In this ceiling painting,
Guido combines the two gods, Apollo/Phoebus
and Aurora, in one scene.

The painting is not mentioned in the original
catalogues, but is listed by Masreliez in 1810 as
an addition, having already appeared in the 1804
catalogue with the number 208. The painting
has an original label preserved on the reverse:
“C. Cignani-Carro del Sole. Mart. 208”, as well
as a later label with the description: “KM 865
Cignani Phoebus på sin char.utg.” The last word
“utg(allrad)” means that the painting was weeded
out of the collection in 1861 and subsequently not
given a Nationalmuseum number – something
that has been corrected in the aftermath of the
present research project.¹

Although the present painting is not executed
to a very high standard, there is no reason to
question the attribution to Cignani or his studio.²

Judging from the motif of Phoebus seated in a
chariot on a cloud, the foreshortenings, the perspective
partly di sotto in sù, and the oval shape of
this small painting, it may be a sbozzo or modello
for a larger ceiling decoration. Together with its
companion piece, The Chariot of Aurora (NM
7226, cat. no. 32), the painting may also originally
have adorned a palace interior, with the two possibly
mounted as overdoors in a cabinet.³
JE

1 Prytz and Eriksson 2010, p. 81.
2 For the works of Carlo Cignani and his studio see Vitelli
Buscaroli 1953; Roli 1977; Buscaroli Fabbri 1991.
3 Prytz and Eriksson 2010, p. 81.[END]