The book is accompanying the first exhibition ever dedicated to Dosso Dossi’s Aeneas Frieze, held at the Galleria Borghese in Rome (4 April – 11 June 2023) and aims to assess studies of this exceptional composition by Dosso Dossi, presenting five canvases now housed in some of the world’s most famous museums. The most recent discoveries concerning the pictorial frieze, originally made up of ten paintings depicting scenes from Virgil’s Aeneid, created between 1518 and 1520 for Duke Alfonso I d’Este’s camerino d’alabastro in Ferrara, are reflected in the essays by leading scholars of the Ferrarese painter and provide evidence of its great originality.

By looking back over the history of the commission and the context in which the pictorial enterprise developed, the catalogue offers an account of fundamental studies on the Aeneas Frieze. Emphasis is placed on Dosso Dossi’s exceptional interpretation of the landscape, while events surrounding the work’s arrival in Rome are recounted through the first accounts of its inclusion in the collection of Scipione Borghese and his heirs, without overlooking its critical fortunes in the 20th century. The volume paints a wonderful picture of a fascinating chapter in the history of Italian art.