#romandeities

This canvas is a preparatory sketch for a ceiling fresco in the Dining Room and Ballroom of the Royal Apartments of the Princess of Asturias, María Luisa of Parma, in Madrid’s Royal Palace. The room was painted in 1764, and later became the Daily Dining Room. In his description of the allegorical paintings that decorated the palace ceilings published in 1829, Francisco José Fabre explained the painting’s complicated subject matter: drawing inspiration from texts by Homer, Apollodorus, Ovid and Virgil, the scene depicts the Giants’ efforts to conquer the home of the Gods on Mount Olympus and its defence by Jupiter and his immortal siblings. Among them is Hercules, who felled Titan, the most powerful leader of the assailants.