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Allegory of Hercules

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Allegory of Hercules (c. 1535) by Dosso Dossi

Allegory of Hercules is a c. 1535 oil on canvas painting by Dosso Dossi, now in the Uffizi in Florence. Its subject is uncertain and its sometimes almost known as Bambocciata or Stregoneria.[1]

It was acquired in Siena by Giannotto Cennini for cardinal Leopoldo de' Medici, who received it in 1665. His inventory called it a "painting with portraits of the jesters of the dukes of Ferrara", a satirical caricature subject which can only have originated as a direct commission from Ercole II d'Este, himself named after Hercules, hence the painting's name.[2]

References

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  1. ^ (in Italian) Gloria Fossi, Uffizi, Giunti, Firenze 2004. ISBN 88-09-03675-1
  2. ^ Felton Gibbons, "Two Allegories by Dosso for the Court of Ferrara" in: The Art Bulletin, Vol. 47, No. 4 (Dec., 1965), pp. 493–499