Dido's Sacrifice to Juno by Jean Bernard Restout|Joseph Marie Vien|Jean-Baptiste Marie Pierre

Medium

Oil paint, over pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash, on paper, mounted on canvas

Dimensions

12 5/8 x 15 3/8 in. (32 x 39 cm)

Classification

Drawings

Department

Drawings and Prints

Museum

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

Credit

Van Day Truex Fund, 1983

Accession Number

1983.429

Tags

WomenJuno

Art Historical Context

In the evocative *Dido's Sacrifice to* (ca. 1772–74), French artists Jean Bernard Restout, Joseph Marie, and Jean-Baptiste Marie collaborate on a mythological scene from Virgil's *Aeneid*. Dido of Carthage, desperate to sway the goddess Juno against Aeneas's departure, performs a ritual sacrifice. Rendered at modest dimensions (12 5/8 x 15 3/8 in.), this work captures the drama of classical antiquity through elegant female figures, emphasizing themes of devotion, power, and feminine agency—evident in the tags highlighting women and Juno. This piece exemplifies late 18th-century French draftsm...

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