Atlantes and Deities
2023 © Maxim Tabachnik
Pauline Bonaparte as Venus VictrixThe Rape of ProserpinaAdoration of the ChildDavidApollo and DaphneThe Council of the GodsSaint Jerome WritingAeneas, Anchises, and AscaniusThe EntombmentYoung Sick BacchusDavid with the Head of GoliathApollo and Daphne with The Apotheosis of RomulusMadonna and Child with St AnneRoman Civilization and the Heroic Virtue of HonorBoy with a Basket of FruitSacred and Profane LoveMax Amid Roman EchoesThe Apotheosis of RomulusTruth Unveiled by TimeBust of Cardinal Scipione BorgheseYoung Woman with a UnicornHistoric Gardens of Villa BorgheseAtlantes and DeitiesMax aming Berninis and CaravaggiosPope Paul V BorghesePope Paul VMax Contemplates Bernini’s Pluto and ProserpinaVenus Blindfolding CupidFireplace

Atlantes and DeitiesdetailGiovanni Lanfranco

1180
This illusionistic corner from the Council of the Gods (1624–25) employs trompe-l’œil (a visual illusion) to depict three Atlantes straining under a fictive entablature. Their muscular tension contrasts with the serene gestures of mythological figures below, illustrating divine order upheld by primal force within Lanfranco’s Baroque cosmos.