Apollo and Neptune advising Laomedon
- Artist: Domenichino
- Date: 1616-18
- Medium: fresco, transferred to canvas
- Museum: The National Gallery
- Collection record: The National Gallery website
Listen to the free audio guide
About this artwork
This is "Apollo and Neptune advising Laomedon" by Domenichino. It's a large fresco from the 17th century, one of ten paintings designed to decorate a garden pavilion at the Villa Aldobrandini in Frascati, near Rome.
As you can see, Apollo and Neptune are disguised as mortals, holding a piece of paper between them while pointing to a classical city in the background. They're advising King Laomedon on the building of Troy, a scene taken from Ovid's Metamorphoses.
Domenichino designed this composition, but much of the actual painting was left to his assistants. In fact, it seems that by the time they reached this wall, Domenichino had moved on to other projects and his team took over. That might explain why these frescoes don't quite match the quality of the others in the pavilion.
This painting is actually one of eight that were transferred from the original garden pavilion to canvas, so it's a bit of a rarity even among art lovers. And if you're interested, there are four preparatory drawings for figures related to this scene in the Royal Collection at Windsor Castle.
See it in person
Apollo and Neptune advising Laomedon hangs in The National Gallery on Trafalgar Square, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
