PALOMINO, Acislo Antonio
(b. 1655, Bujalance, Córdoba, d. 1726, Madrid)

Allegory of Air

c. 1700
Oil on canvas, 246 x 156 cm
Museo del Prado, Madrid

This painting belongs to the series The Four Elements painted in the early eighteenth century for the Buen Retiro Palace in Madrid. The series consists of Air (by Palomino), Water (by Ezquerra), Earth (by Vaccaro) and Fire (by Palomino).

Air, one of the four elements, is embodied by the goddess, Juno, who sits in a carriage drawn by the peacocks that customarily symbolize her. She is accompanied by the nymph, Iris, who frames the scene with her marvelous rainbow. On earth, under a leafy tree, two cupids play with soap bubbles, alluding to the ethereal nature of the element in question.