Lombard School, 18th Century, Peace Wins Over Discord

Lombard School, 18th century,
Peace wins over Discord
Oil on canvas, cm 110 x 63
With frame, cm 120 x 73
At the center of the canvas is the personification of Peace, identifiable by the olive branch that denotes the mitigation of angry souls of the contenders held between the fingers of the right hand, and the crown with flowers. Branches and olive leaves return several times inside the painting: it is seen around the breasts of the Allegory of Peace, and transported by a dove that flies high in the sky. 
La Pace sits on another female figure dressed in pink and with her head covered. Three cherubs hover over them, one of which is the regent, a mirror, and one ready to crown the central figure, a symbol of victory. The mirror is an attribute of Prudence, in which she is reflected and contemplates herself, not out of complacency, as in the myth of Narcissus, but in the philosophical perspective of nosce te ipsum. Even the laurel is an attribute of Prudence, and symbolizes the prudent man who ponders and reflects before acting. Finally, an anguicrynate figure who holds a torch in his hand perishes on the ground: it is the personification of Discord. The scene is inserted in a landscape in which buildings of a city can be seen on the right and on the left a boat with sails spread and surmounted by banners.
The scene, full of allegorical meanings and symbols, depicts Peace winning over Discord and was perhaps commissioned to celebrate the triumph probably obtained by the client during a conflict. Triumph achieved thanks to the ability of the same to ponder decisions and plan strategies as suggested by the personification of Prudence. 
Stylistically, the canvas has affinity with the artistic production of the Lombard school of the eighteenth century, as stated by the clarity and compositional sobriety that characterizes the painting, developed along a central axis. Nevertheless, the canvas does not lack vivacity, indeed, the intersection of the bodies of putti in flight and the intertwining of arms and legs of the various characters gives a certain dynamism to the scene, comparable to certain solutions of Francesco Corneliani (1748 - 1815), as for example in the glory of Saints Gervasius and Protasius in Capriate San Gervasio (BG) and in particular in the movements of putti in flight. The plastic and chromatic values of the canvas are still close to Corneliani, as can be seen in the cycle of the four seasons of Castello Malaspina in Carrara. Also in Giuliano Traballesi (1727-1812) and in the paintings depicting allegory attributed to him preserved in the Royal Palace of Milan, it is possible to find affinities with the canvas in question. In particular, affinity is shown by comparing the Allegory of Prudence of this canvas with the allegorical figure of Traballesi, which are depicted in the same pose, rather austere and hieratic, moved by the presence of a putto. The same can be said for Zephyr’s Allegory in which Zephyr’s staticity contrasts with the animosity of the putto in flight, very similar to one of those represented in the canvas under examination.
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