The Sacrifice of Polyxena

Melissa Natividade The Sacrifice of Polyxena By Charles Le Brun 1619–1690 Paris Date: 1647 Accession Number: 2013.183 ​ Much has been discussed in great detail throughout this semester but naturally much more happened during the Trojan War than can be discussed in the three hours of class each week. Polyxena is one of those subjects that was touched upon but never truly explored in detail, making the painting recounting her sacrifice at the Metropolitan Museum of Art quite surprising and intriguing. Though there are discrepancies regarding details in the setup of the painting, The

Sacrifice of Polyxena by Charles Le Brun successfully used specific iconography to capture and reconstruct the exact moment in the Trojan War that he wished to portray to his audience.

At first glance, it was clear that the painting was a sacrifice of a young woman, leaving little room for debate on the possible identity of the subject of the painting. With minimal knowledge of the Trojan War, the subject of the sacrifice could be narrowed down to either the sacrifice of Iphigenia at Aulis or the sacrifice of Polyxena at Troy. One object, Achilles’ tomb, in the background of the painting immediately clarifies the circumstance as being the sacrifice of

Polyxena. Achilles was the only great warrior that would have gotten such a proper burial and though that did not happen in the Homer’s original works, Le Brun represents Achilles’ tomb as being quite grand to invoke Achilles’ presence in the situation despite his physical absence.

Other characters specific to this scene in Ovid’s “Metamorphoses” are Hecuba and Neoptolemus, who has substantial iconography in the painting. His slanted profile is painted with remarkable similarity to his father’s profile that is almost parallel to his own, with even their helmets being one and the same. As well as having the profile of Achilles to help identify Neoptolemus, Le

Brun also makes Neoptolemus baby­faced to a degree that clashes with his actions and build, a tool used to subtly invoke his age and emphasize his identity that could otherwise be confused with a soldier seizing Iphigenia for her sacrifice. Hecuba, though lacking in iconography, can be identified by her rich, flowing articles of clothing and golden crown, as she would be the only

Trojan royal that would be alive and who would mourn for Polyxena.

There are discrepancies in the painting that clash with Ovid’s original description but some of these discrepancies invoke the traditional Baroque style that Le Brun was so highly­regarded for. “Le Brun personally created or supervised the production of most of the paintings, sculptures, and decorative objects commissioned by the French government for three decades during the reign of Louis XIV”(Encyclopaedia Britannica), making his style widely ​ ​ distinguished and easily detected. Polyxena was a virgin and valued her virginity, according to

Ovid, until her last dying breath, being “careful to hide the parts that should be hidden, and to protect the honour of her chaste modesty,” (Ovid BK XIII:429­480). This manner was what made Polyxena the perfect sacrifice for Achilles, overlooking their history and her supposed unintentional treachery, but it also hid what Baroque painters such as Le Brun, so loved to explore. In the “Metamorphoses” Polyxena was said to have bared her throat and one breast to be slain but one breast would never be enough for the Baroque period, in which fleshy bodies were presented in their entirety. This explains why Le Brun chose to bare almost all of Polyxena, covering only her lower body.

Other variations however, do not seem to interfere with Le Brun’s style of composition and do not have much basis. Achilles’s tomb is, as mentioned before, is quite grand but without much necessity as a simple depiction of arms or of Achilles’ profile alongside his tomb would have gotten the point across while also staying true to the kind of burial he would have gotten amidst a war. The background of the painting is also quite strange to have considering Troy itself was on a hill but it overlooked the plain of Scamander which would not look like the mountainous background Le Brun presents. Polyxena is said to have been pierced in the breast but the perspective in the painting make it appear as though she is going to be pierced in the throat. The priest is also mentioned as “weeping, and against his will, driving his sword home, piercing the breast she offered up,” in Ovid’s description of the scene whilst the priest does none of this in the painting. On the contrary to the original description, the priest is in the shadows of the painting and does not have very much to do with the scene at all. He does not have a look of resentment but rather a look of indifference or hollowness and his role of killing Polyxena is given to Neoptolemus instead.

Despite the discrepancies, LeBrun does his part to maintain the scene very much like it is originally presented by Ovid, even adding small details to further connect the painting to the scene it is supposed to depict. Polyxena looks very much like she is being torn from Hecuba’s arms in the painting and the way she looks in her mother’s direction invokes Polyxena’s last words requesting that her body be returned to her mother without ransom. Much like it would be expected, Polyxena does not have a fearful expression on her face but rather a look of disappointment or distaste at the entire ordeal. Though the priest and Neoptolemus do not play the same roles in the painting as they do in “Metamorphoses”, LeBrun does include a priest and assigns Neoptolemus the sword that is depicted by Ovid as well. Beyond describing the scene in detail, giving particular focus to Achilles’ tomb to invoke his character, LeBrun also cleverly sneaks a horse into the scene on the top right corner of the painting that most likely serves as an indirect reference to the Trojan War during which this scene took place.

In terms of quality of work, detail and focus on historical context LeBrun sets a very high standard for depictions of the sacrifice of Polyxena, making other paintings of the same scene subject to scrutiny. Giovanni­Battista Pittoni for example was also a Baroque painter who ​ depicted the sacrifice of Polyxena, however his work does not portray the scene with so much regard to historical context as LeBrun’s work does. As seen in Figure 1, Pittoni makes the scene too flowery and grand in setting when in truth the Greeks did not have such a magnificent tomb for Achilles while they were still battling in Troy nor did they have such rich garments to flounce around in. [good!] ​ ​ Though there are some disparities regarding details in the setup of the painting, The

Sacrifice of Polyxena by Charles Le Brun in general successfully employed specific iconography and historical context to fully explore and recreate the moment in the Trojan War in which

Polyxena was sacrificed while also staying true to the traditional Baroque style of the era.

Figure1: The Sacrifice of Polyxena at the Tomb of Achilles by giovanni­battista pittoni

Works Cited

Metamorphoses, Ovid, translated by A.S. Kline ​

The Sacrifice of Polyxena at the Tomb of Achilles by giovanni­battista pittoni http://art.thewalters.org/detail/40682/the­sacrifice­of­polyxena­at­the­tomb­of­achilles/

Charles LeBrun, http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/333292/Charles­Le­Brun ​