Almost every time I look at a painting, sculpture or even a
print which depicts a scene in Classical mythology I try to recollect the
entire story which that scene is a part of.
This is one of my favorite pieces on display in the Art Institute of
Chicago. Aeneas, a prince of Troy, is
rushing to Anchises, his father, so that they may escape the city before the
Greeks completely overrun it and subdue every Trojan. This scene is an event narrated in Vergil’s Aeneid, which was commissioned by
Emperor Augustus in order to glorify the Roman Empire by associating its
founding with the Trojan War and the Trojan prince, Aeneas, which Homer describes in his Iliad.
Aeneas and Anchises did escape Troy with Aeneas’s son and a
band of comrades. Anchises dies before
the end of the epic journey to Italy and is buried in Sicily. Nevertheless, this is a great work.
I hope everyone is having a wonderful winter break! Happy holidays!
Scott
No comments:
Post a Comment