Minneapolis Institute of Art

Achille trascina il corpo di Ettore (Achilles dragging the body of Hector around the wall of Troy)

Pietro TestaLinkedCulture matchlcp-54fad2f0d7ea

Date: c. 1648
Medium: Etching with pen and ink additions
Department: European Art
Institution: Minneapolis Institute of Art
Object ID: 140111

From the Minneapolis Institute of Art record

Homer's Illiad inspired this harrowing scene. Achilles avenged the death of his friend Patroclus by killing Hector and then tied the body to a chariot and dragged it around the walls fo Troy. Pietro Testa borrowed ancient monuments of Rome (the Colosseum, the Torre delle Milizei, and the Pantheon) for his backdrop. On the parapet above the arched gate, Hector's wife, Andromache, faints, and other bystanders seems anquished as well. Nevertheless, Fame crowns Achilles with a laurel wreath. Pietro Testa developed his own classicizing vocabulary, but the nudity that he adopted from antique sculptures did not completely appeal to a previous owner of this print. Someone has used a pen to add fig leaves to cover the genitals of Achilles and Hector and the breast of Fame. Italy, Europe

View at Minneapolis Institute of Art ↗

The authoritative record is held by Minneapolis Institute of Art. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.

Get printable QR codes

Open QR codes for this object page and the museum record. They stay collapsed until needed.

Open this page

See at Minneapolis Institute of Art