Bartolomeo Guidobono (Savona, 1657 – Turin, 1709)
Bacchus
Ceres (image)
oil on canvas,early 1690s
The King’s Bed Chamber

The two paintings were originally owned by the Durazzo family, for whom Bartolomeo Guidobono is documented in the ancient sources as having painted various works for houses in the city and the country. The palace on Via Balbi still contains an Apollo as Shepherd and a Diana and Endymion by his hand. Associated with the autumn and summer, Bacchus and Ceres probably formed part originally of a set of four canvases devoted to the seasons. The artist seems intent on involving the viewer in the mysterious dynamics of the two compositions with a studied interplay of looks, gestures and inviting smiles. The canvases are characterized by softness of texture, light that falls upon the figures from an indefinite background, and harmony of colours, all stylistic hallmarks of the painter from Savona.