Getty Museum
The Suicides of Meleager and Althea
Creator
Boucicaut MasterFrench Illuminator · 1390–1430
All works by this person →In the early 1400s, the Boucicaut Master was the leading master of manuscript illumination in Paris and one of the most influential artists working in the International style in northern Europe. The Boucicaut Master appears to have supervised a talented team of artists who produced manuscripts commissioned by the king of France, high-ranking aristocrats, and the wealthy bourgeoisie. He probably al
More on Getty ULAN- Date
- about 1413–1415
- Medium
- Tempera colors, gold leaf, gold paint, and ink
- Culture
- French
- Department
- Manuscripts
- Institution
- Getty Museum
The suicides of Meleager and his mother Althea conclude the bloody tale of the Calydonian boar hunt, which was one of the most famous episodes of Greek legend. Prince Meleager succeeded in killing the vicious boar that was let loose in the kingdom of Calydon, but he presented the honor of the hide to his love, the sole woman on the hunt, who had first wounded the boar. Outraged that a woman should receive the honor, Meleager's maternal uncles tried to take the hide for themselves, but Meleager killed them in a fit of rage. When Althea heard that her son had killed her brothers, she plotted to kill Meleager, but he had already repented of his act by taking his own life. Realizing she was bereft of her brothers and her son, Althea then killed herself in despair.
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