Paul Troger, Allegorical Scene with Hercules and Athena(?)/Cybele(?), Marble Hall, Melk Abbey, 1731
Thank you Meldelen for your perceptive and well-reasoned comments. Because of them I have included Cybele in the title.
The lion chariot (upper right) is normally an attribute of Cybele. Meanwhile the bridle and the mixing of water with wine (see the putti in front of the rider) are symbols of balanced self-restraint, a quality normally associated with Athena. The crested form of her helmet is also normal for Athena but not for Cybele. The result is that the rider's identity is unclear. Instead of being Athena or Cybele, she even might be a hybrid allegorical figure intended to represent a Christian concept like Holy Wisdom. While she represents inner qualities of spirit or soul, Hercules represents the subjugation of evil in a more active way. The quadratura architectural elements of the painting are by Gaetano Fanti.
Intellectually, the convergence of several meanings at once is intended to stimulate wonder and to be dizzying like the suspended convergence of perspectival lines overhead. This artistic strategy is typical of Baroque ceiling painting, which aims to enrapture the psyche by simultaneously dazzling the eye and intriguing the intellect. Physical light from the windows reveals the depicted divine light of the heavens. Meanwhile, the revealing of the image by light is like the unveiling of the allegorical content by the intellect. As our intellects trace the interplay of allegorical figures, our eyes are washed by the interplay of heavenly light, and we feel that reason and divine revelation are fused, are ultimately one. The unity of Heaven with Earth, and Revelation with Reason, seems to be the underlying message in much Baroque art. This fresco is a very good example.
Paul Troger, Allegorical Scene with Hercules and Athena(?)/Cybele(?), Marble Hall, Melk Abbey, 1731
Thank you Meldelen for your perceptive and well-reasoned comments. Because of them I have included Cybele in the title.
The lion chariot (upper right) is normally an attribute of Cybele. Meanwhile the bridle and the mixing of water with wine (see the putti in front of the rider) are symbols of balanced self-restraint, a quality normally associated with Athena. The crested form of her helmet is also normal for Athena but not for Cybele. The result is that the rider's identity is unclear. Instead of being Athena or Cybele, she even might be a hybrid allegorical figure intended to represent a Christian concept like Holy Wisdom. While she represents inner qualities of spirit or soul, Hercules represents the subjugation of evil in a more active way. The quadratura architectural elements of the painting are by Gaetano Fanti.
Intellectually, the convergence of several meanings at once is intended to stimulate wonder and to be dizzying like the suspended convergence of perspectival lines overhead. This artistic strategy is typical of Baroque ceiling painting, which aims to enrapture the psyche by simultaneously dazzling the eye and intriguing the intellect. Physical light from the windows reveals the depicted divine light of the heavens. Meanwhile, the revealing of the image by light is like the unveiling of the allegorical content by the intellect. As our intellects trace the interplay of allegorical figures, our eyes are washed by the interplay of heavenly light, and we feel that reason and divine revelation are fused, are ultimately one. The unity of Heaven with Earth, and Revelation with Reason, seems to be the underlying message in much Baroque art. This fresco is a very good example.