The Sword of Damocles

A rare subject in Italian art, the "Sword of Damocles" is a moral anecdote exemplifying the risks and imminent dangers experienced by those in positions of power. According to the history of Greek-occupied southern Italy, the courtier Damocles constantly flattered the tyrant Dionysius I of Syracuse in Sicily, for his great power, good fortune, and immense wealth. Growing tired of the sycophant, the ruler offered Damocles to trade places in a feast during which a sword hung by a hair above the hapless man's head (Cicero, Tusculan Disputations, 5, 6162). In his telling of the story here, the artist has evoked the feeling of a grand theatrical performance in which the dramatic action devolves in strong lighting along an illusionistic diagonal space. The crowned tyrant Dionysius sits near the center of the composition pointing toward the canopy (at right) where the seated, terrified Damocles shrinks and shirks under the sword suspended by a hair. Around them, numerous onlookers and bustling servants enlarge the action in this palatial banqueting hall, while a dog nibbles at discarded bones at lower right.

Ugo Ruggeri recognized this drawing as the work of the then little-known Florentine artist, Giuseppe Piattoli the Younger in 1976; the artist's precise life dates were then yet to be identified. Emanating from a successful, well-educated family of artists, Piattoli the Younger taught drawing at the Accademia del Disegno in Florence from 1785 to 1807. As we see here from his choice of subject, Piattoli's compositions inspired by ancient history, mythology, and the bible demonstrate a refined intellect. (CCB)