An Allegory
Artist: Domenico Guidobono (Italian, 1668–1746)
Original Dimensions: 56 3/4" x 92 1/4"
Location: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
About Artwork: (1710–20) "The fantastical subject of this painting has eluded scholars. The woman holding dividers over an open book with diagrams has been identified as Circe or Melissa, but is probably a more generic sorceress surrounded by symbols of her dark magic: skulls, a bat, and a chimera (a fantastical winged creature). The representation in the left foreground of a coati, a member of the raccoon family native to South America, is unique in early modern painting and was probably based on an animal living in a private zoo in Genoa." - (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)

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