Coresus Sacrificing Himself to Save Callirhoe
| Coresus Sacrificing Himself to Save Callirhoe | |
|---|---|
| French: Le grand prêtre Corésus se sacrifie pour sauver Callirhoé | |
 | |
| Artist | Jean-Honoré Fragonard |
| Year | 1765 |
| Medium | oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 309 cm × 400 cm (122 in × 160 in) |
| Location | Musée du Louvre, Paris, France |
Coresus Sacrificing Himself to Save Callirhoe is a large oil-on-canvas painting by the French Rococo artist Jean-Honoré Fragonard, created in 1765. The painting was exhibited at the Salon of 1765 and earned Fragonard entry into the Académie Royale.[1]
Scene
[edit]The story is described in the book Description of Greece (VII, 21), by Pausanias. During a time of plague, the inhabitants of the ancient Greek city of Calydon ask the oracle at Dodona how they might end the plague that has fallen upon the population. The oracle replies that they must sacrifice a beautiful girl named Callirhoe or find someone to die for her. At the climax of the story, the victim is brought to the temple where the head priest, a man named Coresus, who has always loved Callirhoe, has the task of slaying her to save the city. Fragonard's painting depicts Coresus plunging a knife into his body, sacrificing himself to save Callirhoe, who has fainted.[1]
History
[edit]The painting was exhibited at the Salon of 1765 and earned Fragonard entry into the Académie Royale. It has been often described as Fragonard's effort to combine his own tendencies with academic requirements and it stands in stark contrast to the paintings for which Fragonard would later be known, erotic domestic scenes and figures of fantasy.
The work was acquired by Louis XV and is now in the Musée du Louvre, Paris.[2] The preparatory sketch for the work belongs to the collection of the Musée des Beaux-Arts d'Angers, and a ricordo has been part of the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid since 1816.[3] Later, Fragonard created a loose chalk sketch of the same scene but at a smaller scale. This drawing is currently in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.[4]
Gallery
[edit]-
Coresus and Callirhoe, oil sketch. Musée des Beaux-Arts d'Angers. -
The Sacrifice of Callirhoe, oil ricordo. Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, Madrid.
References
[edit]- ^ a b Curran, A.S. (2019). Diderot and the Art of Thinking Freely. Other Press. p. 229. ISBN 978-1-59051-672-0.
- ^ Krén, Emil; Marx, Daniel. "Coresus Sacrificing himself to Save Callirhoe". Web Gallery of Art. Retrieved July 25, 2019.
- ^ Fernando, Real Academia de BBAA de San. "Fragonard, Jean Honoré - El sacrificio de Caliroe". Academia Colecciones (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2020-08-06. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
- ^ "Coresus and Callirhoë". The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved July 25, 2019.
