Alcmene’s (Nausicaa’s) Vision
Jan de la Froey (Südniederländischer Künstler, 17. Jahrhundert/southern Dutch artist, 17th century)
Framesize 143.00 x 173.00 x 13.50 cm
The painting was purchased in 1964 by Charles Alphonse Dufresnoy (1611–1668) as "Alcmene’s Vision", but already listed in 1936 by Wilczek and in 1956 by Pigler as "Nausicaa’s Vision". Pirondini’s 1985 expertise attributes the work to Jean Boulanger (1606 Troyes –1660 Modena) and identifies the subject as "Nausicaa".
As Juffinger (p 43) established by means of the preserved contract, Humprecht Jan Czernin commissioned Jan de la Froey to paint "Alcmene’s Vision".
Thus the figure asleep in the bed would be Alcmene, mother of Heracles (Roman: Hercules) – not Nausicaa (daughter of Alcinous, King of Phaeacia), to whom Athene (Roman: Minerva) appears, and who then finds the shipwrecked Odysseus as she washes clothes on the shore, and takes him to her parents (Homer, Odyssey, Book 6).
Ducke Astrid: Jan de la Froey (Jan Boulanger), Alcmene's (Nausicaa's) Vision, in: Ducke Astrid, Habersatter Thomas (Hrsg./Edi.): von | from 0 auf | to 100. Residenzgalerie Salzburg 1923-2023. Salzburg 2023, S./p. 138-139