Sketch for 'Dido on the Funeral Pyre' (recto); Erotic Sketch of Man and Woman (verso)

Art Institute of Chicago

Sketch for 'Dido on the Funeral Pyre' (recto); Erotic Sketch of Man and Woman (verso)

Henry FuseliLinkedCulture matchlcp-51a294594c6f

Date
c. 1781
Medium
Oil paint over charcoal (recto), and black chalk (verso), on ivory laid paper
Culture
England
Department
Prints and Drawings
Institution
Art Institute of Chicago
Object ID
113888

From the Art Institute of Chicago record

Dido, Queen of Carthage, was deserted by her lover Aeneas, a prince of Troy and a hero of the Trojan War. Devastated, she built a pyre to burn his possessions. Upon ascending the pyre and lamenting her cruel fate, Dido took her life with the sword she had given to Aeneas. In this preparatory sketch for a painting, Fuseli hews closely to the story as recounted in the ancient Roman poet Virgil’s epic poem about Rome’s founding, the Aeneid . Dido’s sister Anna weeps at the dead queen’s feet, while Iris, sent by Juno, cuts a lock of her hair to free her soul from her body.

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Credit line
The Leonora Hall Gurley Memorial Collection

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Object type
AAT300033973

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