Priam Supplicating Achilles for the Body of Hector

Giuseppe Girometti

ca. 1815–25 · Onyx, gold · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

In The Iliad Homer tells of King Priam of Troy visiting the tent of the Greek hero Achilles to beg him for the body of his eldest son, the great warrior Hector, whom Achilles had killed and then dragged back to his camp. Achilles, attended here by one of his warriors, Automedon or Alcimus, took pity on the old king and ordered the corpse to be bathed and returned to him. Girometti turned again to Bertel Thorvaldsen, this time creating a capital stripped-down version, with several variations, of the sculptor’s marble relief of 1815 at Woburn Abbey. The purplish ground provides a magisterial backdrop for the white figures.

Artist

Giuseppe Girometti

Date

ca. 1815–25

Medium

Onyx, gold

Culture

Italian, Rome

Department

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Credit line

The Milton Weil Collection, 1940