Allegory of Fire (Milan)
Object type | Painting |
Genre | Allegory |
Date | 1608 |
Dimensions | 46 x 66 cm |
Support | Copper |
Medium | Oil |
Signature | BRUEGHEL 1608 |
Collectors/patrons | Federico Borromeo |
Our attribution | Jan Brueghel the Elder |
Other authorities | Ertz 1979, #190 Ertz 2008-10, #509 |
Location | Milan, Italy |
Collection | Ambrosiana |
Accession numbers | inv. #68 |
Series | 1608-1621 Elements |
Tags | Cosmology, Elements, Encyclopedic, Forge, Ruins, Borromeo, Fire, Armor |
External resources | Ambrosiana |
The Milan "Allegory of Fire" is part of a series of the elements which Jan Brueghel painted between 1608-1621. See Also:
This work was sent to Borromeo in December 1608. Yet it is not mentioned in Borromeo's 1611 codicil so possibly it had been sent back to Antwerp for further adjustment.
Note that there is a scene of the Temptation of St. Anthony in the background of this version. Interesting that at the same time he sent this to Borromeo, Jan sent him a separate picture with that very subject. Jones (Borromeo 233-234) says that there was another St. Anthony that was sent to Borromeo in 1609 but was a pastiche or knock-off work by studio retouched by JB and Borromeo didn't keep it. She says it was rediscovered in a private collection in Milan in 1956.
Tivoli temple in background here.