Emilian School, 18th Century – Sacred And Profane Love, Chronos And Fortune

"Emilian School, 18th century – Sacred and Profane Love, Chronos and Fortune"

Oil on canvas

205 × 168 cm (80 ½ × 66 in.)

Provenance:
Private collection, Europe

Large allegorical composition depicting several figures from Greco-Roman mythology. Chronos, the personification of Time, is shown facing Fortune, the goddess of chance and change. The scene — a subject typical of 18th-century allegorical painting — also contrasts Sacred Love, associated with virtue and spirituality, with Profane Love, linked to carnal desire and earthly passion. The work explores moral tensions between constancy, pleasure, and destiny, using the visual language characteristic of allegorical art in the 18th century.

Note: The title is taken from the canvas by Titian (1490 -1576), ‘Sacred Love and Profane Love’ painted in 1514.