Guido Reni's Abduction of Helen
Subtitle: the politics and rhetoric of painting in seventeenth-century Europe
By: Anthony Colantuono.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 1997
Place of publication: Cambridge [England]; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 304
Subjects: Reni, Guido, 1575-1642.; Barberini family -- Art patronage.; Painting, European -- 17th century.; Helen of Troy (Greek mythology) -- Art.; Painting -- Political aspects -- Italy.
Other titles: Abduction of Helen
Description: This study explores how Guido Reni's Abduction of Helen functioned as an instrument of political rhetoric in the context of diplomatic relations between Spain, France, and the Holy See during the Thirty Years War.

The painting was commissioned for the king of Spain amid diplomatic negotiations between the Spanish monarchy and the papacy of Pope Urban VIII, but the papacy, the author argues, sought to control the artist's interpretation of his subject - the famous event that caused the Trojan War - by transforming it into a political metaphor for the war between France and the Habsburgs.

Contemporary encomia on Guido's Abduction of Helen show that the painter's style was perceived as analogous to the literary manner of Seicentismo, which the Barberini papacy promoted as part of its cultural agenda.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 284-297) and index.