Allegory of Water

In Paris the Louvre shows a canvas by Albani that was long called Water, and its label now says the title is wrong. This is the genuine one, part of the round set of the four elements that Albani painted between about 1625 and 1628 for Cardinal Maurizio of Savoy.

Water is a sea triumph. Galatea, the sea nymph, rides a shell drawn by dolphins, surrounded by nereids, tritons, river gods and cupids. On the shore at the left, nereids and cupids play with what the sea gives up, pearls and coral. When the Galleria Sabauda picks a single one of the four for its visitors' guide, it picks this one.