CARLO FRANCESCO NUVOLONE
(Milan, 1609 – Milan, 1662)
The Cumaean Sibyl shows Aeneas the way to the Underworld
Oil on panel, cm 44,5x59
Bibliography: Carlo Francesco e Giuseppe Nuvolone. Tracce di beltà lombarda, edited by F.Ceretti, Paulo Maiora Cadamus vol 1, Studiolo, Milan 2023, fig. 4, pp. 12, 37, 38, 51
Aeneas in the Underworld
(Aen. VI, 637-693)
Aeneas arrives at Cumae where the Sibyl, inspired by Apollo, prophesies the future to him. The hero, wanting to meet his father, asks the priestess to enter the kingdom of the Dead. She tells him that first he must look for a golden branch in the nearby forest (to offer to Proserpina); he must also bury the corpse of the faithful trumpeter Misenus. Aeneas also makes sacrifices to the Infernal gods and then enters with the Sibyl into the cave that leads to Hades. In the Vestibule they encounter monsters of all kinds; near the Acheron he consoles Palinurus; then, ferried by Charon, they reach the "Fields of Mourning": here is the last meeting with Dido. Afterwards, after visiting the places of the Heroes and Tartarus, Aeneas and the Sibyl reach the Elysian Fields:
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“Then at the end of the rite, having made the offering to the goddess,
they came to happy places, in the festive green of the woods
that exude peace, where the blessed dwell.
Here a freer sky covers with shining light
the plain that enjoys an exclusive sky and stars.”
Finally he finds Anchises, who contemplates the souls destined to return to the light and give fame and glory to Rome. Seeing Aeneas, he is moved and recounts the wait:
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“Here you are at last, the expected piety for the father
conquered the harshness of the journey. I am allowed to see your face
son, I am allowed to hear the beloved voice and speak to you.
Yes, I nourished it in my heart, I knew it would happen,
I was counting the hours: the wait has not betrayed me!
After you have wandered over so many lands and over so many
seas, I welcome you, o son, vexed by so many misfortunes!”
