The Virgin Sacrifices: Representations of the Sacrifices of Iphigenia and Polyxena in Art

Alicia Deveney
Trinity College Dublin
Department of History of Art and Architecture
2003
BA

Subject: Painting
Country: Western Europe
Period: Classical Antiquity to 19th Century

10,000 words

This dissertation analyses the depiction of the virgin sacrifices of Iphigenia and Polyxena in relation to the Classical literary sources. The sources for the mythology are introduced and the stories are summarised. Vase paintings from classical antiquity and a lost wall painting by Timanthes are identified as the earliest examples of the subject. Paintings by Domenichino, Poussin and the French Academy are treated. The importance of Pietro da Cortona's 'The Sacrifice of Polyxena' in establishing the pictorial prototype for depictions of the sacrifice is discovered. Eighteenth century Venetian depictions are discussed in relation to contemporary operas. The changing ways of painting this mythological subject are related to historical and social contexts as well as the literary sources.

Irish Georgian Society

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The Virgin Sacrifices: Representations of the Sacrifices of Iphigenia and Polyxena in Art