Aeneas Saving Anchises at the Fall of Troy
Medium
Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash and yellow gouache heightened with traces of white, over black chalk, with stylus (banister); framing lines in pen and brown ink
Dimensions
27.7 × 42.6 cm
Classification
Drawing
Department
Drawings
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
L. E. Holden Fund
Accession Number
1960.26
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
About this artwork
In book two of Virgil's epic poem The Aeneid (29-19 BC), the Trojan hero Aeneas escapes from the burning city of Troy and its Greek invaders with his family. Here the artist shows them making their way through a classical corridor. Aeneas carries his elderly father, Anchises, entrusted with holding their household gods. Aeneas holds the hand of his son, Ascanius, and his wife Creusa follows behind. Creusa's separation from the group alludes to her fate: she will fall behind and not survive their...