10 Works, Today, March 13th. is artist Pierre-Narcisse Guérin's day, his story, illustrated with footnotes #071

Pierre-Narcisse Guérin  (1774–1833)

Death of Cato the Younger

Award-winning entry for the Prix de Rome (1797)

Oil on canvas

123 × 163 cm

Musée de Tessé, Le Mans, France.

Cato the Younger (95–46 BCE) was a pivotal figure in Rome during the first century BCE. A defender of the Roman Republic, he forcefully opposed Julius Caesar and was known as the highly moral, incorruptible, inflexible supporter of the Optimates. When it became clear at the Battle at Thapsus that Julius Caesar would be the political leader of Rome, Cato chose the philosophically accepted way out, suicide,  by stabbing himself with his own sword.

Cato did not immediately die of the wound; but struggling, fell off the bed, and throwing down a little mathematical table that stood by, made such a noise that the servants, hearing it, cried out. And immediately his son and all his friends came into the chamber, where, seeing him lie weltering in his own blood, great part of his bowels out of his body, but himself still alive and able to look at them, they all stood in horror. The physician went to him, and would have put in his bowels, which were not pierced, and sewed up the wound; but Cato, recovering himself, and understanding the intention, thrust away the physician, plucked out his own bowels, and tearing open the wound, immediately expired. More on this painting

Pierre-Narcisse, baron Guérin (13 March 1774 – 6 July 1833) was a French painter born in Paris.

Pierre-Narcisse Guérin  (1774–1833)

The Return of Marcus Sextus, c. 1799

Oil on canvas

Height: 217 cm (85.4 in); Width: 243 cm (95.6 in)

Louvre museum

Marcus Sextus (imaginary character), escaped from Sylla's proscriptions , finds his daughter in tears on his return, near his dead wife. Marcus is sitting on the edge of the bed; he holds a hand of his wife in his, while his young daughter kisses his knees. This painting, in which we see an allusion to the return of the emigrants, was a huge success at the Salon of 1799 . More on this painting

The reference to ancient history was only a cover for the evocation of contemporary history. For the public which thronged to see the picture, the message was clear: Marcus Sextus, the Roman aristocratic victim of Sylla’s proscription, is the symbol of the French émigré who, on his return finds all his belongings and property pillaged and his family decimated. More on this painting

A pupil of Jean-Baptiste Regnault, he carried off one of the three grands prix offered in 1796, in consequence of the competition not having taken place since 1793. In 1799, his painting Marcus Sextus (Louvre) (See above) was exhibited at the Salon to excited wild enthusiasm. Part of this was due to the subject - a victim of Sulla's proscription returning to Rome to find his wife dead and his house in mourning - in which an allusion was found to the turmoil of the French Revolution.

Baron Pierre-Narcisse GUÉRIN, Paris, 1774 - Rome, 1833

Les bergers au tombeau d'Amyntas/ The shepherds at the tomb of Amyntas, c. 1805

Salon of 1808

Oil on canvas

H.: 1.31 m. ; W.: 1.77 m.

Louvre museum

Amyntas I was king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (c. 547 – 512 / 511 BC) and then a vassal of Darius I from 512/511 to his death 498 BC, at the time of Achaemenid Macedonia. 

As a vassal of Darius I, king of the Persian Achaemenid Empire, from 512/511 BC. Amyntas gave the present of "Earth and Water" to Megabazus, which symbolised submission to the Achaemenid Emperor. One of the daughters of Amyntas, named Gygaea, was married to the Persian General, called Bubares, possibly as a way of reinforcing the alliance.

The history of Macedonia may be said to begin with Amyntas' reign. He was the first of its rulers to have diplomatic relations with other states. In particular, he entered into an alliance with Hippias of Athens, and when Hippias was driven out of Athens he offered him the territory of Anthemus on the Thermaic Gulf with the object of taking advantage of the feuds between the Greeks. Hippias refused the offer and also rejected the offer of Iolcos, as Amyntas probably did not control Anthemous at that time, but was merely suggesting a plan of joint occupation to Hippias. More on Amyntas I

The Tomb of Amyntas, also known as the Fethiye Tomb, is an ancient Greek rock-hewn tomb at ancient Telmessos, in Lycia, located in the Aegean region of Turkey.

The tomb was built by the Lycians, the people who lived in this area of Turkey at the time. The Lycians were never members of a specific country, but rather a tightly-knit confederation of independent city-states

Pierre-Narcisse Guérin  (1774–1833)

Phèdre and Hippolyte, c. 1802

Oil painting , duck feather , paper , canvas

Height: 33.0 cm; Width: 46.0 cm

Louvre Museum

Hippolytus was the son of Theseus, but Theseus would find a new wife for himself in the form of Phaedra, daughter of King Minos. 

Phaedra would be cursed by Aphrodite to fall in love with her own stepson, but Hippolytus would reject the advances of Phaedra. Phaedra would then accuse Hippolytus of trying to rape her, a story believed by Theseus, and a lie that would bring about the death of Hippolytus. More on this painting

The eyes of the characters do not cross at any point on the table, to mark the tension and mistrust of this episode of the myth . To the left of the stage, Hippolytus glances at his father, Theseus.  Phèdre , in love with her stepson, accuses him of trying to seduce her.She seeks to provoke the anger of Theseus. The fury of the king of Athensit is undeniable, judging by his furious gaze, his dark, threatening features. His face is also immersed in the shadow by Guérin, as if to underline the wrath of the sovereign. Along with the monarch, away from the scene playing her guilt, Phèdre seems lost, almost mad. she has her eyes wide open and lost. The disheveled hair, standing over her head, is, of course, echoing the monstrous Medusa. Finally, relegated to a shady corner of the room, slips Nurse Oenone. Oenone 's dominant dark clothes and her investment in the void show that she is the real fault, the instigator of the tragedy that is unfolding before our eyes. A feeling of great injustice, then invades us at the sight of this painting; an impression that is reinforced by the unbalanced placement of the characters. 

On the one hand we have the royal couple misled by the nurse who indulges in devastating passions; they are dressed in dark colors and partially bathed in darkness. D ', dressed in the white robe of innocence. He wears a buirac , a bow , a skin ... In short, keeping the hunter he was. These attributes are a direct reference to the huntress goddess Artemis, known for the ardor of her freedom, but above all for her virginity. By placing the young man in the direct line of the pure and chaste goddess, Pierre-Narcisse Guérin clearly emphasizes the child’s obvious innocence in the androgynous appearance, accompanied by the finesse of the deer that always accompany the goddess. Therefore, if the representations of characters like Phaedrus and his nurse are one of the most troubling, leaving the viewer to see the internal and damnable moral conflicts,Hippolyte emerges as his strict opposite. More on this painting

Guérin on this occasion was publicly crowned by the president of the Institute, and went to Rome to study under Joseph-Benoît Suvée. In 1800, unable to remain in Rome on account of his health, he went to Naples, where he painted The Shepherds in the Tomb of Amyntas (See above). In 1802 Guérin produced Phaedra and Hippolytus (Louvre)  (See above); in 1810, after his return to Paris, he again achieved a great success with Andromache and Pyrrhus (Louvre) (See below); and in the same year also exhibited Aurora and Cephalus (Pushkin Museum) (See below) and Bonaparte and the Rebels of Cairo (Versailles) (See below). These paintings suited the popular taste of the First Empire, being highly melodramatic and pompously dignified.

Pierre-Narcisse Guérin  (1774–1833)

Andromache and Pyrrhus, c. 1810

Oil on canvas

Height: 342 cm (11.2 ft); Width: 457 cm (14.9 ft)

Louvre Museum

“Andromache” is a tragedy by the ancient Greek playwright Euripides, first produced some time between about 428 and 424 BCE. It dramatizes the plight of Andromache, wife of the dead Trojan hero Hector, during her life in the years after the end of the Trojan War as the slave and concubine of Achilles‘ son, Neoptolemus. More on Andromache and Pyrrhus

Pierre-Narcisse Guérin  (1774–1833)

Aurora and Cephalus, c. 1811

Oil on panel

Height: 36.2 cm (14.2 in); Width: 26.3 cm (10.3 in)

 Pushkin Museum

Aurōra is the Latin word for dawn and the goddess of dawn in Roman mythology. Like Greek Eos and Indian Ushas, Aurōra continues the name of an earlier Indo-European dawn goddess. 

In Roman mythology, Aurōra renews herself every morning and flies across the sky, announcing the arrival of the Sun.

Cephalus was an Athenian son of Hermes and Herse. His magnificent beauty caused the goddess of the dawn to fall in love with him.

He was eventually carried off and ravished by her. The story carrying off of Cephalus by a goddess was represented on several pediments of Greek Stoa and temples. More on Aurora and Cephalus

Pierre-Narcisse Guérin  (1774–1833)

Napoleon Bonaparte Pardoning the Rebels at Cairo, 23rd October 1798, c. 1808

Oil on canvas

Height: 365 cm (11.9 ft); Width: 500 cm (16.4 ft)

Palace of Versailles

Napoleon had shown clemency to the Mamluk leaders of the 1798 rising - but only after the slaughter of most of the insurgents. Guérin burnishes Napoleon's myth subtly, placing his hero to the rear and rather dwarfed by those he has pardoned, in a sort of inverted modesty. If the rebels are allowed dignity in defeat, it is to emphasize the magnanimity of the victor. More on this painting

Pierre-Narcisse Guérin  (1774–1833)

Aeneas telling Dido about the misfortunes of the city of Troy, circa 1815

Oil on canvas

Height: 292 cm (114.9 in); Width: 390 cm (12.7 ft)

Louvre museum

Dido was, in Roman mythology, the queen of Carthage. She was the daughter of a king of Tyre. After her brother Pygmalion murdered her husband, she fled to Libya, where she founded and ruled Carthage. According to one legend, Dido threw herself on a burning pyre to escape marriage to the king of Libya. In the Aeneid, Vergil tells how she fell in love with Aeneas, who had been shipwrecked at Carthage, and destroyed herself on the pyre when, at Jupiter’s command, he left to continue his journey to Italy.

In this painting Guérin depicted the scene when Aeneas narrates the destruction of Troy. More on this painting

The Restoration brought to Guérin fresh honours; he had received from the first consul in 1803 the cross of the Legion of Honour, and in 1815 Louis XVIII named to the Académie des Beaux-Arts. His style changed to accord with popular taste. In Aeneas Relating to Dido the Disasters of Troy (Louvre) (See above), Guérin adopted a more sensuous, picturesque style.

Pierre Narcis Guerin  (1774-1833)

The Death of Priam, c. 1817

Oil on canvas

Musee des Beaux-Arts, Angers, France

In Greek mythology, Priam was the legendary king of Troy during the Trojan War. His many children included notable characters like Hector and Paris.

Priam is killed during the Sack of Troy by Achilles' son Neoptolemus (also known as Pyrrhus). His death is graphically related in Book II of Virgil's Aeneid. In Virgil's description, Neoptolemus first kills Priam's son Polites in front of his father as he seeks sanctuary on the altar of Zeus. Priam rebukes Neoptolemus, throwing a spear at him, harmlessly hitting his shield. Neoptolemus then drags Priam to the altar and there kills him too. More on this painting

Guérin was commissioned to paint for the Madeleine a scene from the history of St Louis, but his health prevented him from accomplishing what he had begun, and in 1822 he accepted the post of director of the French Academy in Rome, which in 1816 he had refused. On returning to Paris in 1828, Guérin, who had previously been made chevalier of the order of St. Michel, was ennobled. He now attempted to complete Pyrrhus and Priam, a work which he had begun at Rome, but in vain; his health had finally broken down, and in the hope of improvement he returned to Italy. Shortly after his arrival at Rome Baron Guérin died, on 6 July 1833, and was buried in the church of La Trinité de Monti by the side of Claude Lorrain.

Guerin, Baron Pierre-Narcisse (1774-1833)

The Wedding of Alexander the Great and Roxana, c. 1810

Oil on canvas

33.5x42 cms

Museum of Fine Arts, Rouen, France

Roxana was a princess whom the Macedonian king, Alexander the Great, married, after defeating Darius III, the Achaemenian king, and invading Persia. She was born in c. 340 BC, though the precise date remains uncertain, and died in c. 310 BC. More on this painting

A heroic portrait by Guerin hangs in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Baltimore. An 1821 gift of King Louis XVIII of France, it depicts the Descent from the Cross. More on Pierre-Narcisse Guérin

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