Minneapolis Institute of Art

The Sacrifice of Iphigenia

Pietro Testa

Date

1640–42

Medium

Etching

Department

European Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

In this complicated scene, Pietro Testa tells many aspects of the story of Iphigenia, which is told by classical authors Euripides Aeschylus, Ovid, and Pliny. Greek troops hope to sail for Troy, but there is no wind. We see their boats in the background. A seer told King Agamemnon that Artemis, goddess of the hunt, had witheld the winds because the king had shot one of her stags; so, Agamemnon had to sacrifice his daughter Iphigenia to assuage the Artemis. Agememnon tricked his wife into bringing Iphigenia, saying that she would be wed to the warrior Achilles. Achilles, who stands at the right, discovered the plot and swore to protect Iphigenia, but the young woman, who sits before thealtar, agreed to her own sacrifice. As the executioner siezes her by the hair and prepares to sink his knife, Agemenon, his wife and a maidservant cry in agony at the left. In the story, Iphigenia suddenly disappears and is replaced by a stag sent by Artemis, who was touched by Iphigenia's heroism. Testa shows us both Iphigenia and the stag, as Artemis points to the animal as she descends from a stormy sky that signals the winds have resumed. Italy, Europe

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