Keywords: Sebastiano Conca - Allegory of Summer - Walters 371744.jpg Conca represents the different character of the four seasons through one of the most favored artistic motifs of the 18th century the putto embodying the spirit of a little child The playful tender and fleshy figures convey a light mood As allegorical personifications here they act out seasons through typical activities Seated at the fire of a brazier Winter wraps himself up against the cold Walters 37 1791 ; Spring holds a wreath of flowers Walters 37 1724 ; Summer shades his head with a leaf against the heat while cooling his foot in a stream; and Autumn like a little Bacchus the ancient god of wine holds grapes representing the harvest Walters 37 1792 The charming series was surely intended to decorate a small room perhaps a dressing room Zeri Italian paintings in the Walters Art Gallery 433 545-546 ca 1720 Baroque Oil on canvas cm 47 5 24 7 accession number 37 1744 35526 Don Marcello Massarenti Collection Rome date and mode of acquisition unknown 1881 catalogue no 151 1897 catalogue no 292 as Carlo Maratta Henry Walters city Baltimore Walters Art Museum Henry Walters Acquired by Henry Walters with the Massarenti Collection 1902 place of origin Naples Italy Walters Art Museum license 2D Baroque paintings in the Walters Art Museum Sebastiano Conca Media contributed by the Walters Art Museum needs category review |