VENETIAN MASTER
1st half of 18th Century

Antiochus and Stratonice. Oil on canvas. Relined. 76 x 126cm. Monogrammed on the bedpost right: ALGT (lig.). Framed.

Verso:
Various old adhesive labels with attributions on the stretcher and old relined canvas.

In ca. 893 BC the Seleucid king Seleucus; who was married to the young Stratonice; left his son Antiochus sick in bed to his wife. The son had become gloomy by his love for the stepmother. When the physician Erasistratus recognised this suffering; the father devolvedd the kingdom and his wife to him.
This popular subject; transmitted by Plutarch; was picked up by many famous painters in the 18th century.

Due to the monogram the consigner's family considered the present work to be by the French history painter Anne-Louise Girodet-Troison (1767-1824) for a long time. However; the painting technique and costuming are rather indicative for a Venetian master of the early 18th century.Art trade; Van Ham.