The Council of the Gods on Olympus

Luigi Sabatelli · 1825
Fresco - Vault of the Hall of the Iliad
Florence, Italy - Palazzo Pitti
LDA · I · MMXXV

Source
Book · Il Neoclassicisimo nella Pittura Italiana di Angela Ottino Della Chiesa · Fratelli Fabbri Editori · 1967 · p. 67

Luigi Sabatelli completed this fresco in 1825 for the Vault of the Hall of the Iliad in Palazzo Pitti, part of Florence’s neoclassical revival of Homeric subjects. The Olympian gods are assembled around Zeus, identifiable by the sceptre and elevated throne that mark his authority. Athena stands armed with the aegis, Ares and Aphrodite appear among the central figures, and Hermes descends with the caduceus - the winged staff symbolising divine message and transit between realms.

The arrangement follows classical hierarchy: martial deities to the left, fertility and beauty to the right, Zeus at the centre, and mortal beings below. The fresco reflects 19th-century Italy’s role in preserving classical mythology as cultural lineage rather than distant history.

Reposting welcome; please credit Libreria d’Arte - Studio Soli

Detail
Flora with flowers and putti - Symbol of spring, flourishing and divine prosperity.

Detail
Abundance seated on the lion -Prosperity upheld and protected by strength - a symbol of wealth secured under divine authority.

Infant Plutus in the arms of Abundance (Abundantia) -Plutus, the god of wealth and material abundance, appears here as an earth-toned infant held by Abundance, goddess of prosperity, wealth and nourishment. His darker skin signals his origin from the earth - riches of soil, grain and metal - in deliberate contrast with the radiant palette of the Olympian gods. Together, Abundance and Plutus form a visual affirmation that the order of Olympus ensures prosperity, growth and flourishing across the world below.

Detail
The centaur with the aulos - the double flute marks him as a Dionysian centaur, embodiment of passion and instinct, positioned below the council to express the subordination of wild nature to the rule of Olympus.

Detail
The messenger god Hermes (Mercury) - With winged caduceus, symbol of communication, transition between divine and mortal worlds

Hebe nursing Heracles - A ritual of divine nourishment marking his passage into immortality

Iris with the torch - The messenger of the gods, announcing that the council’s decision is now in motion.