Carlo Cignani and Marcantonio Franceschini: Master and pupil in comparison

Starting on Saturday, May 16, and running through May 30, 2026, we will host in the gallery an exhibition dedicated to Carlo Cignani and Marcantonio Franceschini, presenting master and pupil in comparison.

Carlo Cignani’s Hercules and Omphale stands as one of the artist’s most significant works. Narrated in Apollodorus's Bibliothèkè, the love story between the Greek hero Hercules and Omphale, Queen of Lydia (sometimes also called 'Iole'), was a popular theme in Baroque art. A paragon of physical strength, Hercules successfully undertook the celebrated Twelve Labours, but is here shown spellbound by the beautiful daughter of the River Lardanus. He was so beguiled by love that Omphale was able to force him to dress and act like a girl, which explains the distaff in his left hand. Meanwhile, Hercules's prized trophy, the lion's skin, has become the plaything of two winged cupids, barely visible at the feet of the two lovers, on the left of the canvas.

It will be displayed alongside two large early paintings by his favored pupil Marcantonio Franceschini, depicting Perseus and Andromeda andBacchus and Ariadne (1673-74).
Concluding the exhibition path will be a final canvas by the artist, belonging to the more mature phase of his career: the Pastoral Scene, datable to the very early years of the eighteenth century