Flight of Meriones, with Dead Coeranos Being Dragged from the Chariot

Art Historical Context

This dynamic drawing captures a dramatic moment from Homer’s Iliad, showing the Cretan warrior Meriones in flight as the body of the slain charioteer Coeranos trails behind his chariot. Created after designs by Giulio Romano, a leading Mannerist artist and pupil of Raphael, the sheet reflects the Renaissance fascination with classical epic and heroic narrative. Although dated to the fifteenth century, the composition echoes the vigorous storytelling and muscular figures that characterized Giulio’s own work in the following century. Executed in pen and brown ink with delicate washes over graph...