Harpies Attacking Aeneas and His Companions
Medium
Pen and iron gall ink on cream laid paper
Dimensions
19.1 × 26.6 cm (7 9/16 × 10 1/2 in.)
Classification
pen and ink drawings
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
84680
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Sometimes called Micco Spadaro because his father was a sword smith, Domenico Gargiulo had a gestural style of drawing figures and excelled in historical subjects such as this scene from Virgil’s Aeneid. The epic poem about the founding of Rome follows the wanderings of Aeneas, an Odysseus-like character who escaped the destruction of Troy by the Greek army. Here altars of stolen sacrifices attract the attention of a swarm of fearsome harpies—half bird, half woman—who shriek for vengeance.