01 Work, Interpretations of Olympian deities, Giovanni Maria Bottala’s Deucalion and Pyrrha, with footnotes #47
Deucalion and Pyrrha, circa 1635
Oil on canvas
181 × 206 cm (71.2 × 81.1 in)
Museu Nacional de Belas Artes
Considering the human race to be irretrievably lost and full of defects, Zeus, the sovereign of the gods, decided to put an end to it. To do so, he caused a flood to drown humanity. Only the couple formed by Deucalion and Pyrrha would be spared, due to their kindness. Zeus advised them to build an ark and take shelter in it. After floating for nine days and nine nights on the stormy waters, the ark stopped at the top of a mountain, where the couple disembarked.
When the waters receded, Hermes, Zeus’ messenger, appeared and told them that the sovereign would grant any wish they had. Deucalion told him that they wanted to have friends. Hermes ordered them both to throw stones collected from the ground over their shoulders. The stones thrown by Deucalion turned into men when they hit the ground. Pyrrha’s stones became women, and thus the world was repopulated. More on Deucalion and Pyrrha
Giovanni Maria Bottala (1613–1644) was an Italian painter active in the Baroque period.
He was born in Savona. He traveled to Rome as a young boy, and later became pupil of Pietro da Cortona in Rome. He painted in Rome, Naples, and Genoa. He was taken into the patronage of Cardinal Giulio Sacchetti, for whom he painted a Meeting of Jacob and Esau. Bottala acquired the name of ‘Rafaellino,’ from his great veneration for the works of Raphael. Other works are in the churches of Naples and Genoa. He died at Milan. More on Giovanni Maria Bottala
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