Antiochus and Stratonice

Localisation : The Tribune
Année de création :1840
Artiste :Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres

Description

The subject is taken from Plutarch’s Lives of illustrious Men: Stratonice marries Seleucus I Nicator, King of Syria, but Antiochus, her husband’s son from a first marriage, falls so deeply in love with her that he falls seriously ill. The scene depicts the moment when the doctor Erasistratus understands the cause of his illness: Antiochus’s heartbeat quickens at the sight of Stratonice. The doctor has the old king believe that Antiochus is in love with his own wife; Seleucus begs him to leave her, then, having learnt the truth, offers his wife to his son in order to save him.

Ingres, who was a musician, knew the opera Stratonice, created in 1792 in Paris, the music for which was composed by Méhul (1763-1817).

Ingres, who had travelled in 1834 to the Villa Medici as Director of the French Academy, painted this work in Rome. It took him seven years to finish the painting, making numerous drawings and taking inspiration from antique statues for the figure of Stratonice. He covered this subject seven times in sixty-five years.