Dosso Dossi: The Frieze of Aeneas

When Dosso Dossi was commissioned to paint ten scenes from the Aeneid in Alfonso d’Este’s camerino at his castle in Ferrara, he wisely chose to illustrate the poem’s more exciting first half. A combined effort by several museums now brings together what survives of the characteristically detailed Virgilian canvases for an exhibition at the Galleria Borghese in Rome (4 April–11 July). They include a recently rediscovered painting, The Trojans Building the Temple to Venus at Eryx and Making Offerings at Achises’s Grave (c. 1520), which was purchased in 2021 by the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Find out more on the Galleria Borghese’s website.

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The Trojans Building the Temple to Venus at Eryx and Making Offerings at Anchise’s Grave (dates unknown), Dosso Dossi. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.