Apollo and Neptune advising Laomedon on the Building of Troy

Three men, one with a crown, stand in a landscape. They hold between them a large piece of paper, while two are pointing to a classical city in the background. The gods Apollo and Neptune have disguised themselves as mortals to advise King Laomedon on the building of Troy (Ovid, Metamorphoses XI, 199ff.)This large fresco is one of ten which were designed by Domenichino – and painted with the help of assistants – to decorate a magnificent garden pavilion at the Villa Aldobrandini in Frascati, near Rome. Eight of the frescoes were transferred to canvas and are in our collection. The paintings were in the Stanza di Apollo, a large room in the right-hand wing of the pavilion, which also contained an elaborate fountain with figures of the Greek sun god Apollo and the Muses.The iconographical scheme of the pavilion was devised by Domenichino’s friend Giovanni Battista Agucchi, both to glorify the Aldobrandini family and to express their philosophical and religious ideas. Many of the scenes, including this one, were taken from the Roman poet Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Agucchi used classical stories to symbolise contemporary ideas: Apollo was not just the god of the sun but also of the arts and the Stanza was a temple to the arts. Here he takes on the role of architectural adviser.This fresco was originally on the right-hand side of the room. Domenichino designed its composition and there are four preparatory drawings for figures in the Royal Collection at Windsor Castle. Much of the actual painting was left to assistants, however, especially on the right-hand side of the room. Work seems to have started over the door with The Flaying of Marsyas, and proceeded clockwise around the room. By the time they reached the right-hand wall, Domenichino was engaged in other projects and his assistants largely took over. The frescoes on this wall, which also include Apollo with the Head of Orpheus (still in situ); Mercury stealing the Herds of Admetus guarded by Apollo and Apollo slaying Coronis, seem to be inferior in quality and are probably almost entirely the work of assistants.