This modello, or detailed oil study, is one of a group of 12 paintings -- ten of which are in the National Gallery's collection -- that Giordano made in preparation for the ceiling frescoes of the Palazzo Medici Riccardi in 1682--85. This one corresponds to the group in the centre of the ceiling of the grand Galleria, the climax of the highly elaborate decorative scheme. The overall theme is the progress of mankind by means of Wisdom and Virtue, and the Medici family, elevated into the company of the gods, is presented as the paradigm of both qualities.

The predominant figure here, surrounded by radiant light, is Jupiter, king of the gods. Accompanied by eagles and clutching a thunderbolt -- his traditional attributes -- he is supported on his throne by figures representing Glory and Wisdom (or possibly Eternity and Divinity). Below him, in the middle of the central swirl of figures, is the balding, bearded figure of Cosimo I de' Medici (1519--1574), who had consolidated his family’s power by becoming the first Grand Duke of Tuscany just over a century earlier. Cosimo is flanked by two armoured horsemen. Below him, a figure in red holds the attribute of one of the four Cardinal Virtues, Temperance -- a pair of tongs, with which he dips a red-hot piece of metal into a basin of water. A fourth figure holds the fasces, a bundle of wooden rods with an axe emerging, which is an attribute of Justice, another Cardinal Virtue.

In the modello, Giordano does not identify these four figures as individuals. In the finished ceiling fresco, however -- presumably at the request of his patron, the Marquess Francesco Riccardi -- they are members of the Medici family, each of whom represents one of the four Cardinal Virtues. In the fresco Cosimo I is given a new position alongside Jupiter and cast in the role of Prudence. His place in the centre is taken by Ferdinando II (1610--1670), depicted as Justice, almost certainly because it was he who had sold the Medici’s palazzo to the Riccardi family in 1659. Below him, with the attributes of Temperance, is Ferdinando's elder son Cosimo III (1642--1723), the reigning Grand Duke at the time of the fresco's execution. The two horsemen correspond with Cosimo III's sons, Ferdinando (1663--1713) as Fortitude on the left and Giangastone (1671--1737), who was only about 14 years old at the time, on the right. The figure holding the fasces in the fresco is probably Francesco I (son of Cosimo I and second Grand Duke) or perhaps Cosimo II (grandson of Cosimo I).

At the bottom of the modello, Apollo, the sun god, rides his chariot through the sky. He is accompanied by the Seasons and preceded by Aurora (Dawn), from whose breasts pours dew. At the top, the chariot of the Moon is drawn by bulls, preceded by the figure of Evening. The god Saturn holds a scythe and bites the arm of a putto (he was renowned for devouring his own children). Mars and Venus float above him. Each of these planetary deities has a shining star above its head, as do most of the Medici -- a play on the idea of the Medici Stars, which was the name  Galileo gave to the four moons of Jupiter in 1610, in honour of the ruling Grand Duke and his three brothers.

Style: Baroque, Academic