The two allegories here presented are very rare and precious examples of this production that deserve a careful interpretative reading; their thematic affinity and the scenographic composition perfectly specular allow thinking that they were conceive en pendant, idea reinforced by the fact that they came to us in couple.[…]

As a metaphor of abstract ideas, this allegory expresses a moral value to be traced in the role itself of the Academy as the institutional venue where not only you practice but also you discuss art theories and in there could be the reference to the passionate theoretical debate on the eventual superiority of one of the two “twin sister” (how Leonardo Da Vinci defined painting and sculpting), an intellectual challenge started in the 16th century and apparently settled by the equivalent dignity achieved, so that both received the gold medal given by the Academy. On the same time, it’s possible to read a reference to the prizes that, starting from the second half of the 17th century, were distributed to young pupils at the end of art competitions outlawed by the Academy of Saint Luke, the famous Academy of Arts founded by Federico Zuccari in 1594. Baldi, enrolled from the 1652, got the title of “Principe” (“Director”) in the 1672 so he chaired the commission of professors/artists judging the paintings and sculptures to be prized. […] The dating may be taken in consideration for the chronology of the painting done as a memory of the event.

Excerpt of the expertise by Doc. Donatella Pampaloni.