FRANCESCO CASTIGLIONE (1641 - 1716) Cyrus... Lot 11

FRANCESCO CASTIGLIONE (1641 - 1716) Cyrus suckled by the bitches Canvas 97 x 132 cm Provenance : Sale in London, Christie's, June 27, 1969. Francesco Castiglione produced several works inspired by the subjects of his father GIOVANNI BENEDETTO CASTIGLIONE. A version realized by his father, larger and with variations, is kept in the collection of the Palazzo Durazzo-Pallavicini in Genoa (218 x 316 cm). Herodotus (484-425 B.C.) recounts the prophecy that Astyagus, king of Media, would be dethroned by his grandson. The sovereign therefore gave the order to kill the young Cyrus who, to be spared, was entrusted to a shepherd and abandoned in the mountains. The shepherd and his wife took him in. The prophecy came true and Cyrus II the Great founded the Achaemenid Persian Empire around 550 BC. Expertise by Mrs ANNA ORLANDO