The Illness of Antiochus
The Sickness of Antiochus or Stratonice and Antiochus is an 1840 painting by the French artist Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. It is now in the Musée Condé in Chantilly.[1]
Description
The scene is one described in Plutarch's Life of Demetrius and also attested in the Bibliotheca historica of Diodorus Siculus, Lucian, Appian and Valerius Maximus. Antiochus was the son of Seleucus I Nicator. He fell in love with his father's new wife Stratonice of Syria, but kept this a secret despite falling mortally ill because of it. The doctor Erasistratus discovered the cause of Antiochus' sickness, since he became agitated and his heartbeat quickened when Stratonice entered the room. His father is thus shown collapsed at the foot of the bed.[2]
History
In 1834
The painting was completed in Rome in 1840, with help from assistants:
After the
Influences
Ingres' teacher Jacques-Louis David had also painted the subject, in Erasistratus Discovering the Cause of Antiochus' Disease, the painting which won him the Prix de Rome in 1774. Ingres had made several drawings after David's painting, the earliest dating to 1807.[2]
Another source may have been music and opera, since a lyre is shown in the foreground. The
The decor and dress are partly inspired by ancient models, with Stratonice in particular, very closely influenced by Roman sculpture. The bed is inspired by a 4th-century BC naiskos or funerary monument shown on a vase discovered at Canosa and published in 1816.[7]
Sketches and copies
Ingres produced at least four other versions of this subject:[8]
- a large sketch, painted between 1807 and 1825. His pupil Amaury-Duvalsaw the painting in his master's studio at that date. It disappeared after the sale of Ingres' studio in 1867. It was much larger than the other versions (155 × 190 cm)
- an 1834 sketch for the Chantilly version, now in the Cleveland Museum of Art (48 × 64 cm)
- an 1860 copy of the Chantilly example, on paper mounted on canvas, with several changes, now in the Schauensee collection in Philadelphia (35 × 46 cm)
- an 1866 copy, produced with help from Raymond Balze, reversing the composition and with several changes, now in the Musée Fabre, Montpellier. (61 × 92 cm).
-
Sketch, Cleveland Museum of Art
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Copy, Philadelphia
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Copy, Musée Fabre
See also
Notes
References
- Condon, Patricia; Cohn, Marjorie B.; Mongan, Agnes (1983). In Pursuit of Perfection: The Art of J.-A.-D. Ingres. Louisville: The J. B. Speed Art Museum. ISBN 0-9612276-0-5
- Nicole Garnier-Pelle, Chantilly, musée Condé. Peintures des XIXe et XXe siècles, Paris, Réunion des musées nationaux, coll. "Inventaire des collections publiques françaises", 1997, 445 p. (ISBN 978-2-7118-3625-3), p. 211-215 (notice 148)
Further reading
Connolly, John L. "Ingres Studies: Antiochus and Stratonice, the Bather, and Odalisque Themes. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, 1974.
External links
- Catalogue entry - musée Condé
- Analysis on the education website of the Musée Condé