26 Works, December 3rd. is Lord Frederic Leighton's day, his art, illustrated with footnotes #244

Frederic Leighton (1830–1896)

And the Sea Gave Up the Dead Which Were in It, exhibited 1892

Oil on canvas

H 228.6 x W 228.6 cm

Tate Britain

This is one of the most dramatic and powerful works, painted in the dark and solemn style of Leighton's late career. Leighton's tondo shows the resurrection of the dead, as described in the Book of Revelation: 'And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.' (Revelation 20:13) It is a terrifying yet essentially optimistic image, meditating on the theme of spiritual salvation.

The central group depicts a man, woman and child in various stages of 'awakening': 'The man is alive, his pulses are beating again, his flesh is reddening. His wife wears the greenish ghastly hue of death: his boy is breathing, but still pale and only half alive' (Edgcumbe Staley, quoted in Wilton & Upstone, p.259). All around them, the dead arise from newly-opened graves, some exposing their bodies to the light, others wrapped, mummy-like, in pale shrouds. More on this painting

Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton, PRA (3 December 1830 – 25 January 1896), known as Sir Frederic Leighton between 1878 and 1896, was a British painter, draughtsman, and sculptor. His works depicted historical, biblical, and classical subject matter in an academic style. His paintings were enormously popular, and expensive, during his lifetime.

Frederic Leighton

The Death of Brunelleschi, c. 1852

Oil, canvas

183 x 254 cm

Leighton House Museum

Leighton was keen on Brunelleschi's death by following the proceedings as they happened in a certain building in Florence. Filippo Brunelleschi was instrumental in the southern renaissance, a great figure in the architectural and civil engineering spheres.

 In the foreground of the painting, there is a building located in Florence, whose view reveals the view of the dome of the cathedral. Brunelleschi is shown a semi-recumbent in extremis in a chair accompanied by an array of buildings in the painting’s background that are seemingly defy the correctness in the projection of perspective. More on this painting

Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton  (1830–1896)

The Painter's Honeymoon, c. 1864

Oil on canvas

83.8 × 76.8 cm (32.9 × 30.2 in)

Museum of Fine Arts

In this romantic image, love is equated with art. In its evocation of the past and its precise, controlled style, the painting epitomizes the officially sanctioned academic practice of the late 19th century.

The Italian man who sat for the newly married painter occurs often in Leighton's work: he was apparently one of the artist's favorite models. Importantly, his hands are painted in fine detail, emphasizing how crucial they are to his work. The soft tones and accuracy with which Leighton painted the couple contrasts obviously with the harshness of the orange tree behind them. Leighton appears to have had difficulty in painting it – on close inspection, the oranges look as though they have been enameled. Generally, the composition and glowing color of the picture reflect the influence of such 16th-century Venetian painters as Giorgione and Titian. More on this painting

Frederic Leighton (1830–1896)

Mother and Child, c. 1865

Oil on canvas

H 48 x W 82 cm

Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery

Frederic, Lord Leighton

After Vespers, c. 1871

Oil on canvas

111.5 x 71.5 cm (43 7/8 x 28 1/8 in.)

Princeton University Art Museum

After Vespers epitomizes the delicacy and refinement that Leighton’s Victorian clients appreciated. The setting features mosaics evoking the interior of St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice. The painting’s subject, however, is less the magnificent sanctuary than an enigmatic young woman. Her gold earrings and beads mark her elevated social status, and she gently lifts her skirt to keep it off the dusty floor. Her melancholy expression hints, perhaps, at unrequited love. More on this painting

Frederic, Lord Leighton, P.R.A.

Portrait of Amy Augusta, Lady Coleridge, c. 1888

Oil on canvas

Private collection

Portrait of Amy Augusta Jackson, Lady Coleridge; almost full length, seated and directed to left, looking full face; holding and touch feathered fan on her lap; wearing corset and undergarments

The sitter was the daughter of Henry Baring Lawford of the Bengal Civil Service. She met the widowed Lord Coleridge on his return from a tour of America undertaken in 1883 as a guest of the New York Bar Association. They were married in London two years later. By then Lord Coleridge had risen to the very height of his profession, having been made Lord Chief Justice of England in 1880 by his friend Gladstone. The year this stunning portrait was exhibited he was presiding over the celebrated racing libel case Wood vs Cox. Three years later he famously called H.R.H. The Prince of Wales to the stand in the great Baccarat case, Gordon-Cummings vs. Wilson. More on this painting

Lord Frederic Leighton, British, b.1830, d.1896

Teresina, c. 1874

Oil on canvas board

604 x 495mm

Christchurch Gallery

A young Roman woman, Teresina, was first shown at the Royal Academy in 1876, and came to New Zealand for the Christchurch International Exhibition thirty years later. Its purchase by Canterbury Society of Arts was regarded as a notable coup.

Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton  (1830–1896)

The Music Lesson, c. 1877

Oil on canvas

93 × 95 cm (36.6 × 37.4 in)

Guildhall Art Gallery

The architecture depicted in The Music Lesson is based on studies Leighton completed during his 1873 journey to Damascus. The costumes worn by the women were most likely made of luxe; lustrous fabrics purchased by the artist on this trip. The instrument, a Turkish ‘saz’, was probably his own. These non-Western elements provide an exoticising flair to the work. More on this painting

Frederic, Lord Leighton, P.R.A., R.W.S

Catarina, c. 1878

Oil on canvas

Private collection

Catarina depicts an olive-skinned Italian model dressed in a traditional Campagna smock-shirt, with amber beads at her throat and jasmine flowers in her hair. The composition is beautifully simple, being free of all incidental detail or anecdotal association, nor is any information given about the identity or personality of the sitter.

Catarina lends itself to a purely aesthetic response, allowing the spectator to take delight in the softly-lit physiognomy, the colour of her blushed skin and pink lips reciprocated by the rich colouring and sfumato of her hair and the background. More on this painting

Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton  (1830–1896)

Light of the Harem, circa 1880

Oil on canvas

60 x 32 7/8 inches (152.4 x 83.8 cm)

Private collection

The Light of the Harem was painted in 1880 and depicts a woman arranging a scarf of Damascus silk around her hair while looking into a mirror held by a younger girl. It was one of the first appearances of Leighton's most celebrated model, Ada Alice Pullan who was known by her stage-name, Dorothy Dene. The model for the younger girl is sometimes identified as Connie Gilchrist, a girl who had been 'discovered' as she worked as a skipping-rope dancer at the Gaiety Theatre and who later became Countess Orkney. More on this painting

FREDERIC, LORD LEIGHTON, P.R.A. 1830 - 1896

A NILE WOMAN

Oil on canvas

56 by 30.5cm., 22 by 12in.

Private collection

Sold for  £ 11,353 in Jun 2002

Leighton went to Egypt in 1868, the year before the opening of the Suez canal. He travelled as far south as Aswan and painted over forty landscapes. The viceroy Ismail Pasha placed a steamer at Leighton's disposal, probably on the recommendation of Edward, Prince of Wales who was given the present picture - perhaps in thanks for his introduction.

Leighton cleverly captured the heat of the last light of the day as the solitary Egyptian woman makes her way home through the sand. The careful rendering of her robes is typical of Leighton and the pose of a woman carrying a water-jar appears in several important later works by the artist, including Captive Andromache of 1886 (See below). More on this painting

Leighton was the bearer of the shortest-lived peerage in history; after only one day his hereditary peerage became extinct upon his death

Frederic, Lord Leighton 1830 - 1896

Cimabue's Celebrated Madonna is carried in Procession through the Streets of Florence, c. 1853-5

Oil on canvas

222 x 521 cm

Royal Collection

The picture shows a scene from the 16th century art historian Giorgio Vasari's description of the 13th century procession of an altarpiece of the Madonna and Child through the streets of Florence. The Madonna is being carried from the studio of the Florentine artist Cimabue to the church of Santa Maria Novella. Cimabue himself is depicted immediately in front of the Madonna wearing a laurel wreath upon his head. He is followed by a group including several leading Florentine artistic figures of the day, including his pupil Giotto, the poet Dante Alighieri (leaning on the wall at right), the architect Arnolfo di Cambio, the painters Gaddo Gaddi, Andrea Tafi, Buonamico Buffalmacco and Simone Memmi; the sculptor Nicola Pisano, and on horseback at the right edge of the image, the King of Naples, Charles of Anjou. More on this painting

The Madonna depicted, seen at a very narrow angle in the centre of the painting, is actually not by Cimabue, but instead it is the Rucellai Madonna by Sienese artist Duccio di Buoninsegna. 

This was Leighton's first major work, painted in Rome. It was shown at the Academy in 1855. It was an immediate success, and Queen Victoria bought it for 600 guineas on opening day. More on this painting

Lord Leighton PRA (1830 - 1896)

St Jerome, c. 1869

Oil on canvas

1845 mm x 1420 mm x 40 mm

Royal Academy of Arts

Jerome (Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus, c.  347 – 30 September 420) was a priest, confessor, theologian and historian. He was the son of Eusebius, born at Stridon, a village near Emona on the border of Dalmatia and Pannonia, then part of northeastern Italy. He is best known for his translation of most of the Bible into Latin (the translation that became known as the Vulgate), and his commentaries on the Gospels. His list of writings is extensive.

The protégé of Pope Damasus I, who died in December of 384, Jerome was known for his teachings on Christian moral life, especially to those living in cosmopolitan centers such as Rome. In many cases, he focused his attention to the lives of women and identified how a woman devoted to Jesus should live her life. This focus stemmed from his close patron relationships with several prominent female ascetics who were members of affluent senatorial families.

He is recognised as a Saint and Doctor of the Church by the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Lutheran Church, and the Anglican Communion. His feast day is 30 September. More on Jerome

Frederic Leighton had two sisters including Alexandra who was Robert Browning's biographer. He was educated at University College School, London. He then received his artistic training on the European continent. At age 17, in the summer of 1847, he met the philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer in Frankfurt and drew his portrait, in graphite and gouache on paper — the only known full-length study of Schopenhauer done from life. When he was 24 he was in Florence; he studied at the Accademia di Belle Arti, and painted the procession of the Cimabue Madonna through the Borgo Allegri. From 1855 to 1859 he lived in Paris, where he met Ingres, Delacroix, Corot and Millet.

Frederic, Lord Leighton 1830–1896

An Athlete Wrestling with a Python, c. 1877

Bronze

1746 × 984 × 1099 mm, 290 kg

Tate

The idea of a heroic male nude struggling with a python came to Leighton as he was working on his huge canvas of the 'Daphnephoria' (now in the Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight, UK). He was making clay models of some of his figures in the painting to help work out the composition, so he modelled this figure in clay as well. The figure was studied from life.

Leighton looked to antiquity for inspiration, to the perfectly poised and proportioned male nude of Greek sculpture, and invested it with a new vitality achieved through close attention not only to the skeletal and muscular structure of the body, but even to such details as veins. More on this sculpture

This is the earlier of Frederic Leighton’s only two life-size sculptures. In subject and scale it was intended as a challenge to one of the greatest classical sculptures, The Laocoön, which shows three men being crushed by sea serpents.  More on this sculpture

In 1860, he moved to London, where he associated with the Pre-Raphaelites. He designed Elizabeth Barrett Browning's tomb for Robert Browning in the English Cemetery, Florence in 1861. In 1864 he became an associate of the Royal Academy and in 1878 he became its President (1878–96). His 1877 sculpture, Athlete Wrestling with a Python (See above), was considered at its time to inaugurate a renaissance in contemporary British sculpture, referred to as the New Sculpture. American art critic Earl Shinn claimed at the time that "Except Leighton, there is scarce any one capable of putting up a correct frescoed figure in the archway of the Kensington Museum." His paintings represented Britain at the great 1900 Paris Exhibition.

Frederic, Lord Leighton, P.R.A.

Venus and Cupid

Oil on canvas

Private Collection

Sold for 375,000 USD in Nov 2017

Cupid is the god of desire, erotic love, attraction and affection. He is often portrayed as the son of the love goddess Venus and the war god Mars, and is known in Latin also as Amor (. His Greek counterpart is Eros. More on Venus and Cupid

Venus and Cupid represents Leighton’s first foray in painting the nude. Works such as The Bath of Psyche (See below) demonstrate Leighton’s continued exploration of the subject, and his influence on its a resurgence in British. More on this painting

Frederic Leighton (1830–1896)

The Fisherman and the Syren, 1856–1858

Oil on canvas

H 66.4 x W 48.9 cm

Bristol Museum & Art Gallery

This early work both illustrated and was inspired by a poem by Goethe, which tells the story of a mermaid who rises from the waters to complain to a fisherman that he is enticing her children to death. Gradually the mermaid's own beauty lures the fisherman into the water and to oblivion. A contemporary critic noted the 'irresistible seductiveness' of the mermaid but he observed also that this 'young artist has plainly drunk long and eagerly at the fount of beauty that assuaged the thirst of Leonardo, Michelangelo and Raphael'. It was in exactly that spirit that Leighton was to be so much admired. More on this painting

Frederic, Lord Leighton, P.R.A.

Venus Disrobing for the Bath, c. 1867

Oil on canvas

Private collection

Sold for 1,874,500 USD in Oct 2009

From the late 1860s onward, nudes were an important part of Leighton's oeuvre, with Venus Disrobing a portender of the art world's appreciation of the body alone as a beautiful object. More on this painting

Frederic Leighton

Actaea, the Nymph of the Shore, c. 1868

Oil on canvas

57.2 x 102.2 cm

National Gallery of Canada 

In Greek mythology, Actaea was one of the Nereids or sea nymphs, the fifty daughters of the sea god Nereus, who lived in the Aegean. She is portrayed watching her dolphin companions from the shore. Such classical references allowed the Victorians to accept this erotic image. The distant coastline is one that the artist recorded while visiting Rhodes in 1867. More on this painting

Frederic Leighton

Icarus and Daedalus, c.1869

Oil on canvas

138.2 x 106.5 cm

The Faringdon Collection

In Greek mythology, Icarus was the son of the master craftsman Daedalus, the creator of the Labyrinth. Icarus and Daedalus attempt to escape from Crete by means of wings that Daedalus constructed from feathers and wax. Daedalus warns Icarus first of complacency and then of hubris, instructing him to fly neither too low nor too high, lest the sea's dampness clog his wings or the sun's heat melt them. Icarus ignores Daedalus’s instructions not to fly too close to the sun, causing the wax in his wings to melt. He tumbles out of the sky, falls into the sea, and drowns. More on Icarus and Daedalus

Frederic Leighton

Hercules Wrestling with Death for the Body of Alcestis

Oil on canvas

Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art

The artworks Hercules wrestling with death over the body of Alcestis portrayed a story about the Hercules and the wife of Admetus who was ready to sacrifice her life for the sake of her husband. Admetus' wife knew that her husband really had angered Artemis but she was willing to sacrifice in order for her husband the king to live. The moment Admetus' wife died, Hercules arrived as a guest in the palace and he didn’t wait but goes on and wrestle with the death over the body of Admetus' wife and shockingly, Hercules was able to win her back. More on this painting

Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton  (1830–1896)

Nausicaa, circa 1879

Oil on canvas

Height: 57 in (144.7 cm); Width: 26.3 in (66.9 cm)

Private collection

Nausicaa was a female character in Greek mythology, who appeared in the Homeric epic Odyssey. She was the daughter of King Alcinous and Queen Arete of Phaeacia. In the Odyssey, the ship of Odysseus was destroyed and washed ashore on the island of Phaeacia. On the shore, Nausicaa and her handmaidens washed their clothes, and the shipwrecked hero was awoken by their laughter and games. He appeared in front of them without wearing any clothes, and asked for help; the handmaidens ran off scared, but Nausicaa offered him some clothes and brought him to the edge of the town. There, she told him that she would go first, so people wouldn't see her walking with a stranger, and that he should then go straight to her father's palace, and speak to her mother first. Odysseus indeed went and spoke to Arete, won her trust, and was accepted as a guest at Alcinous' home. He recounted his numerous adventures and after a few days, Alcinous offered him the necessary ships in order to reach his final destination, More on Nausicaa

Frederic Leighton (1830–1896)

Captive Andromache, c.1888

Oil on canvas

H 197 x W 407 cm

Manchester Art Gallery

Girls and women dressed in flowing drapery process from the left along a raised stone walkway on their way to collect water from a high rectangular well on the right. In the centre stands Andromache, a woman draped in black, her face, neck and foot just visible. She looks pensively towards a family group at the bottom right, where a baby sits on its mothers knee and touches its fathers face. To the front left are two men in deep maroon robes holding wooden staffs, one of whom wears a red cap and gestures with his thumb towards Andromache. A partially draped man in the foreground with his back to the viewer also carries a staff and looks towards her. In the bottom left corner sits an old woman who is spinning. She too gazes at Andromache. A mountainous landscape framed by trees is visible behind Andromache. More on this painting

In Greek mythology, Andromache was the wife of Hector, daughter of Eetion, and sister to Podes. The name means 'man battler' or 'fighter of men.

During the Trojan War, after Hector was killed by Achilles and the city taken by the Greeks, the Greek herald Talthybius informed her of the plan to kill Astyanax, her son by Hector, by throwing him from the city walls. This act was carried out by Neoptolemus who then took Andromache as a concubine and Hector's brother, Helenus, as a slave. When Neoptolemus died, Andromache married Helenus and became Queen of Epirus. In Epirus Andromache faithfully continued to make offerings at Hector’s cenotaph. Andromache eventually went to live with her youngest son, Pergamus in Pergamum, where she died of old age. Andromache was famous for her fidelity and virtue; her character represents the suffering of Trojan women during war. More on Andromache

Frederic, Lord Leighton

The Bath of Psyche, exhibited 1890

Oil paint on canvas

1892 × 622 mm

Tate

Psyche's beauty was so great that no man dared to approach her as a suitor. An oracle told her parents to dress her for marriage and sacrifice her, but she was transported instead to the golden palace of Cupid, the god of love. She lived there in a blissful state, waited on by slaves, and each night Cupid would make love to her, but without his identity being revealed. He later abandoned Psyche when, encouraged by her jealous sisters, she gazed on his sleeping form by the light of a lamp and inadvertently dropped hot oil on his body.

The painting shows Psyche undressing herself in order to bathe before Cupid's arrival. She is completely self-absorbed, and her narcissism is emphasised by her reflection, captured in the smooth surface of the water. The woman's pose, with arms raised to reveal her naked body, derives more specifically from the Callipygian Venus, a famous Greek statue that Leighton would have seen in the Capodimonte Museum in Naples. More on this painting

Frederic, Lord Leighton

Perseus and Andromeda

Oil on canvas

 235 x 129.2 x 12 cm

National Museums Liverpool

Perseus and his mission to kill the Medusa was one of the most renowned ancient legends in the Victorian era. Perseus, the son of Danaë and Zeus, was ordered to fetch the head of the Gorgon Medusa, whose magical power caused all who saw it to be turned to stone. 

Perseus is shown riding here on a winged horse, carrying the Medusa’s head. He has come to the rescue of Andromeda, who is chained to a rock as sacrifice to Poseidon, God of the Sea. Leighton has infused drama in the scene. Perseus’s arrow has just struck the dragon whose body continues to ensnare Andromeda. More on this painting

Leighton was knighted at Windsor in 1878, and was created a baronet, of Holland Park Road in the Parish of St Mary Abbots, Kensington, in the County of Middlesex, eight years later. He was the first painter to be given a peerage, in the 1896 New Year Honours. The patent creating him Baron Leighton, of Stretton in the County of Shropshire, was issued on 24 January 1896; Leighton died the next day of angina pectoris.

Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton  (1830–1896)

The feigned death of Juliet, c. from 1856 until 58

Oil on canvas

Height: 113.60 mm (4.47 in); Width: 175.20 mm (6.89 in)

Art Gallery of South Australia

The scene opens early on Wednesday morning. The Nurse enters Juliet's room and discovers her seemingly lifeless body on the bed. The Nurse tries to wake her, but believing her to be dead, cries out to the family in desperation. The Capulets, Friar Laurence, and Paris enter the room in response to the Nurse's cries. They dramatically mourn Juliet's loss while the Friar maintains his deception by offering words of support about Divine Will, comforting the family by expressing the belief that Juliet is in heaven. He then arranges for Juliet's body to be taken to the family vault. Capulet orders that the wedding preparations be changed to funeral preparations. More on The feigned death of Juliet

Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton  (1830–1896)

Greek Girls Picking up Pebbles by the Sea, c. 1871

Oil on canvas

84 x 130 cm

The Pérez Simón Collection, Mexico

On his death his barony was extinguished after existing for only a day; this is a record in the Peerage. His house in Holland Park, London has been turned into a museum, the Leighton House Museum. A blue plaque commemorates Leighton at Leighton House Museum. More on Frederic Leighton

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15 Works, July 11th. is Charles-Antoine Coypel's day, his story, illustrated with footnotes #188

Charles-Antoine Coypel (French, 1694--1752)

Andromache and Pyrrhus, c. 1732 - 1732

Oil on Canvas

130.5 x 163 cm. (51.4 x 64.2 in.)

Private collection

Andromaque is a tragedy in five acts by the French playwright Jean Racine written in alexandrine verse.

The play takes place in the aftermath of the Trojan War, during which Andromache's husband Hector, son of Priam, has been slain by Achilles and their young son Astyanax has narrowly escaped a similar fate at the hands of Ulysses. More on Andromache and Pyrrhus

Charles-Antoine Coypel (11 July 1694 – 14 June 1752) was a French painter, art commentator, and playwright. He became court painter to the French king and director of the Académie Royale. He inherited the title of Garde des tableaux et dessins du roi (Keeper of the paintings and drawings of the king), a function which combined the role of director and curator of the king's art collection. He was mainly active in Paris.

Antoine Coypel  (1661–1722)

The Swooning of Esther, c. circa 1704

Oil on canvas

Height: 105 cm (41.3 in); Width: 137 cm (53.9 in)

Louvre Museum 

Esther is described in all versions of the Book of Esther as the Jewish queen of a Persian king Ahasuerus. In the narrative, Ahasuerus seeks a new wife after his queen, Vashti, refuses to obey him, and Esther is chosen for her beauty. The king's chief adviser, Haman, is offended by Esther's cousin and guardian, Mordecai, and gets permission from the king to have all the Jews in the kingdom killed. Esther foils the plan, and wins permission from the king for the Jews to kill their enemies, and they do so. Her story provides a traditional background for Purim, which is celebrated on the date given in the story for when Haman's order was to go into effect, which is the same day that the Jews killed their enemies after the plan was reversed. More on Esther

Charles-Antoine Coypel

Athalie questions Joas, c. 1741

Oil on canvas

Brest Métropole Museum of Fine Arts.

Athaliah’s husband, Jehoram, was king of Judah until his death in 841 BC. Jehoram was a wicked king. Athaliah’s son, Ahaziah, at the age of 22, ascended to the throne, and proved himself just as evil as his father. Ahaziah served as king of Judah for less than one year, for he was assassinated along with Israel’s ailing king, Joram.

When Athaliah received word that her son was dead, she seized the opportunity to usurp the throne by murdering Ahaziah’s sons—her own grandsons—thus eradicating the entire royal family so she could take the throne. Unbeknownst to Athaliah, a single grandchild escaped the massacre. Jehosheba, the baby’s aunt and the wife of the high priest Jehoiada, took the infant Joash and hid him and his nurse.

As queen, Athaliah used her influence to further establish Baal worship in Judah, installing priests and building altars for her idol in the very temple of the Lord.

After Athaliah had reigned six years, the high priest Jehoiada set guards around the temple and publicly crowned the young Joash as the rightful king. As the new king was anointed. More on Athaliah and Joash

Charles-Antoine Coypel (French, 1694--1752)

The Crucifixion

Oil on canvas

129.5 x 103.5 cm. (51 x 40.7 in.)

Private collection

The crucifixion of Jesus occurred in 1st-century Judea, most likely between AD 30 and 33. Jesus' crucifixion is described in the four canonical gospels, referred to in the New Testament epistles.

Jesus was arrested and tried by the Sanhedrin, and then sentenced by Pontius Pilate to be scourged, and finally crucified by the Romans. Jesus was stripped of his clothing and offered wine mixed with myrrh or gall to drink before being crucified. He was then hung between two convicted thieves and died some six hours later. During this time, the soldiers affixed a sign to the top of the cross stating "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews" which, according to the Gospel of John, was written in three languages. After Jesus' death, one soldier pierced his side with a spear to be certain that he had died. More on The crucifixion of Jesus

Charles-Antoine Coypel IV

Saint Thais in her Cell, c. 1736

Oil on canvas

84.2 cm (33.15 in.) x 61 cm (24.02 in.)

Château de Versailles, Greater Paris

St. Thaïs of fourth-century Roman Alexandria and of the Egyptian desert. Thaïs is first briefly described as a wealthy and beautiful courtesan living in the cosmopolitan city of Alexandria. Yet in the eyes of the church she was a public sinner. Thaïs, however, makes inquiries about the Christian religion and eventually converts. In her Vita a monk in disguise pays for entry into her chambers in order to challenge her and convert her, yet he finds that she already believes in God, from whom nothing is hidden. The identity of this person who instructs and offers Thaïs ways of spiritual transformation is unclear.

Following her acceptance into the Church, Thaïs is shown a convent cell where she is provisioned for three years. During her years of solitude she performs penance for her sins. When she later emerges, it is said, she lives among the nuns of the Egyptian desert only for a brief period of fifteen days, before she dies. More on St. Thaïs

Charles-Antoine Coypel (Paris 1694-1752)

St Piamun and Her Mother in an Egyptian Village, c. 1747

Oil on canvas

106 x 78 cm

Private collection

The Virgin Piama was born and lived in the vicinity of Alexandria, Egypt. She was a follower of Christ who for His sake refused to marry and led an ascetic life in the home of her mother, as in a hermitage. 

As it happened, a stronger village threatened to invade hers, and a crowd of men carrying spears and pointed sticks set out for her village, intent on destroying the village in their greed to divert water to their own fields when the Nile overflowed its banks. But an angel of the Lord appeared to Piama and told her of their wicked intent. This she reported to the village elders. The terrified elders fell on their knees before Piama and implored her to go to the neighboring people and dissuade them from their evil purpose.

Piama went back to her own house and stood all night in prayer. As the morning dawned, the invaders stood transfixed, like columns of stone, unable to move. As it was revealed to them that they had been brought to a halt through the prayers of the servant of Christ, Piama, they made peace with her village, saying, "Thanks be to God and the prayers of Piama that we were prevented from doing you any harm." More on St Piamun

He was born in an artistic family as the son of the painter Antoine Coypel and grandson of the painter Noël Coypel. He lived almost his whole life at the Louvre, from the age of three when his father was granted a brevêt de logement (residence permit) in 1697. He was a pupil of his father and was simultaneously agréé and reçu (which meant he became a full member) at the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture on 31 August 1715.

Charles-Antoine Coypel (Paris 1694-1752)

The Destruction of the Palace of Armida , c. 1737

Oil on canvas 

50 3/8 x 76 in. (128 x 193 cm.)

Private collection

An almost hallucinatory fantasy of madness, vengeance and black magic, The Destruction of the Palace of Armida is a unique masterpiece of French narrative painting of the eighteenth century and the chefd’oeuvre of Charles Coypel. Executed in 1737, it is associated with a suite of four designs by the artist that were commissioned by the French Crown between 1733 and 1741 for tapestries to decorate the private living quarters of Queen Marie Leszczynska at Versailles. 

Coypel’s stunning canvas illustrates the spectacular final moments of the opera in which the sorceress, seated on a dragon, first devastated, then despairing, and finally enraged by Renaud’s abandonment of her, orders the demons to rise from Hell and demolish her magical palace in an orgy of destruction and self-immolation, ultimately offering her own body for sacrifice. More on this painting

Coypel, Charles-Antoine (Paris, 1694 - Paris, 1752)

Perseus delivering Andromeda, c. 1727

Oil on canvas

Height: 1.31 m; Width: 1.96 m

Louvre Museum

As he was flying over Africa in his return home, Perseus assed the kingdom of Ethiopia, he came upon the beautiful and helpless maiden Andromeda, chained to the rocks waiting to be devoured by a sea monster.

Perseus immediately fell in love with the lovely maiden and promptly killed Cetus the beast. More on Perseus delivering Andromeda

Nöel-Nicolas Coypel  (1690–1734)

Birth of Venus, c. 1732

Oil on canvas

Height: 81 cm (31.8 in); Width: 65 cm (25.5 in)

Hermitage Museum

The story goes that the God Uranus had a son named Cronus who overthrew his father, castrating him and throwing his genitals into the sea. This caused the water to be fertilised, and Venus was born. After her birth she came ashore on a shell, pushed along by the breath of Zephyrus, the god of the west wind.

Pair to the painting "Bathing Diana" below. They entered the Hermitage between 1763 and 1770; the collection of Catherine the Great

Nöel-Nicolas Coypel  (1690–1734)

The Bath of Diana, c. 1732

Oil on canvas

Height: 81 cm (31.8 in); Width: 65 cm (25.5 in)

Hermitage Museum

Charles-Antoine Coypel  (1694–1752)

Fury of Achilles, c. 1737

Oil on canvas

Height: 147 cm (57.8 in); Width: 195 cm (76.7 in)

Hermitage Museum

Coypel had an excellent knowledge of ancient literature and here he precisely illustrated a passage from Homer's Iliad: Poseidon and Athena, having assumed human form, support the hero Achilles as he rushes at the Trojans. In the foreground are the river god Scamander (Xanthos) and his brother Simoeis, also sworn enemies of Achilles, while in the sky Hephaestus, carrying torches, is rushing to his aid, sent by the goddess Hera. More on the Fury of Achilles

Charles Coypel (French, 1694−1752)

Departure of Achilles to avenge the death of Patroclus, c. 1723

Oil on canvas

Height: 3.47 m; Width: 4.13 m

Louvre Museum

Thetis presents Achilles with the armor that Hephaestus has forged for him. She promises to look after Patroclus’s body and keep it from rotting while Achilles goes to battle. Achilles walks along the shore, calling his men to an assembly. At the meeting, Agamemnon and Achilles reconcile with each other, and Agamemnon gives Achilles the gifts that he promised him should Achilles ever return to battle. More on the Departure of Achilles

He inherited his father’s design and painting duties as premier peintre du roi (First Painter to the King) at the French court when his father died in 1722. He became premier peintre du roi and director of the Académie Royale in 1747. He worked on several commissions for paintings for the royal Palace of Versailles, and for Madame de Pompadour, the king’s mistress.

Charles Coypel (French, 1694−1752)

The Wedding Feast of Angelica and Medor, c. 1733

Oil on canvas

Height: 3.05 m; Width: 6.15 m

Louvre Museum

Angelica and Medoro was a popular subject for Romantic painters, composers and writers from the 16th until the 19th century. Angelica and Medoro are two characters from the 16th-century Italian epic Orlando Furioso by Ludovico Ariosto. Angelica was an Asian princess at the court of Charlemagne who fell in love with the Saracen knight Medoro, and eloped with him to China. While in the original work, Orlando was the main character, many adaptations focused purely or mainly on the love between Angelica and Medoro. More on Angelica and Medoro

Charles Coypel (French, 1694−1752)

Don Quixote Served by the Girls of the Inn, c. 1751

Oil on canvas

22 7/8 x 28 3/8 inches

Musée Jacquemart-André, Paris — Institut de France

Cervantes’s Don Quixote is considered by many to be among the greatest works of fiction ever written. From the publication in 1605 of the first of two volumes (the second followed ten years later, exactly 400 years ago), the novel enjoyed immense popularity. Reprints and translations spread across Europe, with the adventures of the knight Don Quixote and his companion, Sancho Panza, captivating the continental imagination and influencing both the performing and visual arts. More on Don Quixote

Coypel was an excellent tapestry designer. He designed tapestries for the Gobelins manufactory. His most successful tapestries were created from a series illustrating Don Quixote. Coypel was the first to illustrate Don Quixote in a sophisticated manner. These illustrations were painted as cartoons for tapestries, and were engraved and published in a deluxe folio in Paris in 1724. 

Coypel, Charles-Antoine (Paris, 1694 - Paris, 1752)
Cleopatra swallowing poison (Corneille, Rodogune)

Oil on canvas

Height: 1.3 m; Width: 1.95 m

Louvre Museum

Cleopatra, the last queen of Egypt, died from swallowing a lethal drug cocktail and not from a snake bite, a new study claims.

Coypel created twenty-eight small paintings for these tapestries over a number of years. Each of the paintings was used as the centrepiece of a larger area that was richly decorated with birds, small animals, and garlands of flowers on a patterned background. Over two hundred pieces of the Don Quixote series were woven between 1714 and 1794. He received a commission to design a series of theatrical scenes for tapestries for the queen of Poland in 1747. Coypel also wrote prose, several comedies, two tragedies, and some poetry.

Alongside his painting career, Coypel wrote some forty plays between 1717 and 1747. Only Les Folies de Cardenio (1720) was published. It was staged at the Tuileries Palace in 1721. In La Poésie et la Peinture (Allegory of Painting), allegorical comedy in three acts, the artist compared the qualities of both arts. The painter also realized works on the theme of the theater, including portraits of the Comédie-Française players Charlotte Desmares and Adrienne Lecouvreur. More on Charles-Antoine Coypel 

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