ARARPI0143838
The Three Fates Oil on Canvas Italy XVII Century
Oil on canvas. Italian school of the seventeenth century. The large scene depicts the Three Fates, or the three deities of Roman mythology, called Moire in Greek mythology, who presided over the destiny of man: the first spun the thread of life, the second dispensed destinies, assigning one to each individual, establishing them even the duration, the third, the inexorable, cut the thread of life at the appointed moment. Their decisions were immutable: not even the gods could change them. Sometimes depicted as three elderly women, others as young, they appear in this painting with female features of various stages of life: in the center the goddess who spins is of adult age, on the right there is a young goddess who decides the length of the thread, or the duration of life, on the left an old woman who is preparing to cut the thread with a pincer. In reality, from this work it is clear how the three divinities worked in symbiosis and how the three tasks were actually shared, because all three together represented Fate, the Destiny of man. The canvas, previously restored and relined, needs further restoration due to small diffuse drops of color and a patina of dirt. It is presented in a contemporary relacquered frame.