Phineas and the Sons of Boreas

This 1695 Phineas and the Sons of Boreas at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston depicts a dramatic episode from the Argonaut myth: the blind prophet Phineus was tormented by the Harpies who stole his food until the Boreads Zetes and Calais—sons of the North Wind—drove the monsters away. The subject, unusual in the Baroque repertoire, demonstrates Ricci's engagement with the full range of classical mythology. Painted in his early forties when he was establishing his reputation, this work shows his facility with figures in violent action, multiple bodies arranged in dynamic composition. The Boston holding documents North American museum collecting of Italian Baroque painting in the early twentieth century.

The violent confrontation is rendered with dynamic energy, Ricci's agitated figures and dramatic lighting creating a composition of considerable physical tension within his warm Venetian palette.