Aeneas Legend: Aeneas and Dido

Beaumont’s contribution to the painting of the Palazzo Reale includes, in addition to four living rooms, two galleries, of which the Galleria della Regina, later named after him, is one of the largest (60 m long) and the most magnificent of its kind. In 1833, it was separated from the palace complex, and has since served as the Armeria Reale, housing the Savoyard weapon collection.

The subject of the ceiling painting in the Galleria is the legend of Aeneas, the mortal son of Venus who escaped from the burning Troy with his father and his son, and after many trials and misadventures landed at last at the mouth of the Tiber. There he became through his son Ascanius the progenitor of the gens Julia.

The scenes in the large picture panels documents the most important stations on Aeneas’s adventurous path. The picture shows one of the panels with Aeneas and Dido.