Hector Academy - David
Description
According to the Homeric account, Hector's body was dragged by Achilles behind his chariot around the walls of Troy, before being returned to his father Priam for ransom. The body is depicted here in all the classical perfection of an academic nude that nothing has marred.
Does this mean that David has departed from Homer? The Iliad is not a realistic novel: even outraged by his grief-stricken adversary after Patroclus' death, after being pierced with blows by the Greeks amassed around his corpse, Hector remains a hero and his body is necessarily a glorious one.
The Argians came running
Admiring Hector's size and rare beauty.
ὅι καὶ θηήσαντο φυὴν καὶ εῖδος ἀγητὸν
None of them approached without dealing him a blow. (Iliad, 22, 369-371)
2. Executed during the artist's stay at the Villa Medici in Rome, this nude study never left his studio.
Bought by the city in 1851.
3. In 1779, David, still in Rome, produced a Patrocle, currently in the Musée de Cherbourg, académie de dos which parallels this one.
Technical Data
Notice #024819
