(Este 1631–1722 Venice)
The Abduction of Helen, oil on canvas, 120 x 137.5 cm, framed

Provenance: European Private Collection

Literature: A. Riccoboni, “Antonio Zanchi e la pittura veneziana nel Seicento” in Saggi e memorie di Storia dell’Arte, 1966, no. 5, pp. 72, 118, 193, fig. 7; P. Zampetti, “Antonio Zanchi”, in I pittori Bergamaschi. Il Seicento, vol. IV, Bergamo 1987, p. 551 no. 98, fig. 3. This painting shows unmistakable features of the painting style of Antonio Zanchi, to whom it was first attributed by Riccoboni in 1966 (A. Riccoboni, “Antonio Zanchi e la pittura veneziana nel Seicento” in Saggi e memorie di Storia dell’Arte, 1966, no. 5, pp. 72, 118, 193, fig. 7). In the meantime it has been included to the painter’s catalogue raisonné (P. Zampetti, “Antonio Zanchi”, in I pittori Bergamaschi. Il Seicento, vol. IV, p. 551, no. 98, fig. 3, Bergamo 1987).
Zanchi, who in 1661 was dubbed ‘pittor celeberrimo’ by the Florentine painter and poet Sebastiano Mazzoni, was successfully active in Venice, where he had settled around 1650 and where he was to live until is death. In the City of Canals, a veritable school emerged that primarily relied on Luca Giordano, but also borrowed from the Genoese painter Giambattista Langetti. Its style was marked by a strong chiaroscuro, a powerful naturalism, and an influence from Ribera, all of which combined to produce great dramatic effects.
The present painting displays a high degree of movement and pathos, with the figures viewed from close up and covering the entire surface of the picture, their bodies intertwined. The composition is dominated by a male nude seen from behind – an opportunity for the painter to prove his sense of realism – and the figure of Helen, placed diagonally opposite the male figure. Zanchi lent compactness to the composition through the figures’ glances and gestures; they converge at its centre, where the three protagonists’ heads are arranged on different planes. The theme is rendered in the dramatic manner of the ‘Tenebrosi’.
Zanchi referred to similar compositional elements on other occasions, such as in the paintings originally installed in the Villa Arrigoni in Monselice, for which Zampetti claims stylistic resemblances to the present composition (e.g., The Abduction of Helen, formerly in the Villa Arrigoni degli Oddi). The artist captured the scene at is emotional climax, expressed by Helen’s desperate look as she tries to break free from her abductor. This dramatic atmosphere is further augmented by the rich colours and the intense interplay of light and dark.

Provenance: European Private Collection Literature: A. Riccoboni, “Antonio Zanchi e la pittura veneziana nel Seicento” in Saggi e memorie di Storia dell’Arte, 1966, no. 5, pp. 72, 118, 193, fig. 7; P. Zampetti, “Antonio Zanchi”, in I pittori Ber