Ludus pro patria (Patriotic Games)
ca. 1883–89
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
13 1/8 x 52 7/8 in. (33.3 x 134.3 cm)
Classification
Paintings
Department
European Paintings
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Mrs. Harry Payne Bingham, 1958
Accession Number
58.15.1
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
Art Historical Context
In this elongated composition, figures populate a sunlit pastoral landscape that stretches across the canvas like a frieze. Nude and lightly draped athletes gather in the center, some wrestling or preparing to throw a discus while others rest along the riverbank. Women in flowing garments sit or stand at the edges, watching the games, as simple thatched structures and distant hills frame the scene under a pale sky. The muted palette of soft greens, ochers, and blues creates a calm, harmonious atmosphere rendered with broad, simplified forms typical of a preparatory oil study. Pierre Puvis de Chavannes painted Ludus pro patria (Patriotic Games) around 188
About the Artist
Pierre Puvis de Chavannes · 1824–1898
Pierre Puvis de Chavannes (1824–1898) was a French painter who became the foremost muralist of nineteenth-century France and a crucial bridge between academic tradition and modernism. Born in Lyon to a prosperous family, he studied briefly with Henri Scheffer and Thomas Couture in Paris and traveled to Italy, where the frescoes of the Italian Renaissance made a lasting impression on his artistic v...