Pliny the Elder wrote that Campaspe was the favorite mistress of Alexander the Great, and that Apelles was his favorite painter. Alexander asked him to paint a full-length portrait of Campaspe nude. In so doing, Apelles fell in love with her. Seeing this, Alexander gave up his mistress to the painter. The idea behind Alexander’s gesture is that love inspired by beauty is most appreciated by the one who discerns it best. This story was embraced by painters to demonstrate that they were the best judges of beauty.
Details
- Artist Name: Francesco Trevisani (Italian, 1656-1746)
- Title: Apelles Painting Campaspe
- Date: c. 1720-30
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- Dimensions: 29-3/8 x 23-7/8 in. (74.6 x 60.6 cm)
- Credit Line: The Norton Simon Foundation
- Accession Number: F.1968.11.16.P
- Copyright: © The Norton Simon Foundation
Object Information
[Julius Boehler, Munich, sold July, 1959 to];
[Elisabeth M. Drey, London.]
Morris I. Kaplan, Chicago, by 1960 (sale, London, Sotheby’s, 12 June 1968, lot 99, ill., to);
The Norton Simon Foundation.
Il Settecento a Roma: Mostra promossa dall' Associazione Amici dei Musei di Roma: Realizzata sotto gli auspici del Ministero della Pubblica Instruzione e del Comune di Roma
- Palazzo delle Esposizioni (Rome, Italy), 1959-03-19 to 1959-05-31
La Peinture italienne au XVIIe siècle
- Paris, Petit Palais, 1960-11 to 1961-01
Painting in Italy in the Eighteenth Century: Rococo to Romanticism
- Art Institute of Chicago, 1970-09-19 to 1970-11-01
- Minneapolis, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 1970-11-24 to 1971-01-10
- Toledo, The Toledo Museum of Art, 1971-02-07 to 1971-03-21
[on loan]
- Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1969-09-22 to
[on loan]
- Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1971-04-01 to
[on loan]
- Detroit Institute of Arts, 1974-10-28 to
[on loan]
- Brooklyn Museum, 1968-08-01 to 1969-01-31
Loan to the Permanent Collection, The Brookyln Museum
- Brooklyn Museum, 1968-08-08 to 1969-10-06
The Expressive Body: Memory, Devotion, Desire (1400-1750)
- Norton Simon Museum, 2021-10-15 to 2022-03-07
Reinstallation of Galleries: Art History of the 17th and 18th Century Gains Fresh Dimension
- Norton Simon Museum, 1993-09-02 to 1995-08-13
- McCorquodale, Charles, The Connoisseur, pp. 209, 215
- Griseri, Andreina, Paragone, pp. 28-37
- DiFederico, Frank R., Art Bulletin, pp. 52-67
- Waterhouse, Ellis K., Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies, pp. 12-13
- Gioseffe, G., Pagine Istriane, 1960, pp. 107-116
- DiFederico, Frank R., Francesco Trevisani, Eighteenth-Century Painter in Rome: A Catalogue Raisonné, 1977, no. 33, pl. 27
- Campbell, Sara, Collector Without Walls: Norton Simon and His Hunt for the Best, 2010, cat. 485 p. 303
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