SIENNOISE SCHOOL circa 1600 After Domenico Beccafumi (Valdib - Lot 22

SIENNOISE SCHOOL circa 1600 After Domenico Beccafumi (Valdibiena circa 1486 - Siena 1551) The Sacrifice of Seleucus of Locride Oil on canvas H. 132.5 L. 195 cm (Re-tooled; some lifting and gaps at top left; some restorations, particularly around the edges) Repeat of the composition frescoed by Domenico Beccafumi under the vault of the Consistory of Siena's Palazzo Pubblico (1529 - 1535). The theme belongs to a cycle of eight stories illustrating, under the influence of Machiavelli, the civic virtues of the Roman Republic, and the ability of its rulers to punish transgressions of the law by close friends and colleagues (Cf. Pascale Dubus, Domenico Beccafumi, Fig. 73, p.120 Paris 2000). Seleucus, prince of Locride, author of a law condemning citizens guilty of adultery to blindness, had one of his daughter's eyes plucked out, after having been inflicted with the same punishment to allow him, at the request of his fellow citizens, to keep the other (Cf. Domenico Beccafumi and Il suo Tempo exhibition catalog; Antonio Pinelli, Il "picciol vetro" e il "maggior vaso" pp. 626 & 627 Electa 1990).