The painter, originally from Moneglia, Liguria, is one of the most original and innovative Mannerist painters in Europe. Most of his production draws inspiration from Michelangelo’s monumentality and from the elegant compositions of Parmigianino and Correggio, though it displays the seminal influence of Perino del Vaga, Giulio Romano and Pellegrino Tibaldi.

The subject depicts Achilles among the daughters of Lycomedes, an episode from the youth of the mythological Greek hero recounted by various classical authors. According to these sources, the sea nymph Thetis, the mother of Achilles, in a vain attempt to prevent him from taking part in the Trojan War where he would meet with his death, had hidden him in the gynaeceum of Lycomedes, king of Skyros: here, in female attire, Achilles is supposed to have lived for a while together with the king’s daughters.

According to Piero Boccardo the panel, together with four paintings of the Liberal Arts - Music, Geometry, Astronomy and Arithmetic (private collection)were part of a lost studiolo Luca Cambiaso painted in 1560 for Battista Grimaldi in the Palazzo della Meridiana, Genoa.

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