Landscape with allegorical figures “Venetian school of the 18th century”

Storage. The canvas stands out for its bright colors and excellent state of preservation

The work is sold accompanied by a certificate of authenticity

The canvas in question has Mercury as its protagonists, together with his attributes, goats, and Argos. The myth says that to hide Juno's true identity. Jupiter transformed the girl into a heifer, but the goddess, jealous of her rival, still wanted to obtain the animal as a gift from her. Jupiter, to dispel any suspicion of betrayal, agreed to the request, and Juno placed the girl under the surveillance of Argus. The shepherd had a hundred eyes, scattered all over his head, and thanks to these he managed to never sleep, since to rest he only closed two at a time, while the others remained open. Displeased for the sad fate he had caused the girl, Jupiter commissioned her son Mercury to free her. To be able to get closer to Argos, the god disguises himself as a shepherd: after taking off his helmet and wings, and having only the rod and the syringe with him, he walks towards the guardian playing a sweet melody. Argus, fascinated by the sound, invited the god to sit with him and Mercury began to play for a long time, telling the shepherd the story of Pan and Syringe, until he managed to make all one hundred eyes close to sleep. Then the god took the sword and cut off his head, thus managing to free him. Juno, sorry for the sad fate that had befallen the shepherd, took his eyes from his head and placed them on the feathers of the peacock, her sacred animal. The landscape, lush and with bucolic features, recalls the myth of Arcadia and the lost golden age.