The Sacrifice of Iphigenia
Medium
Brush and brown ink with brown wash
Dimensions
8 3/4 x 6 1/8 in. (22.2 x 15.6 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Alexander B.V. Johnson and Roberta J.M. Olson, 1994
Accession Number
1994.535.2
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the poignant drawing *The Sacrifice of Iphia* (1810), French artist Jean Michel Moreau the Younger captures a dramatic moment from Greek mythology. The scene depicts tragic tale of Iphigenia, daughter of Agamemnon offered as a sacrifice to the goddess Artemis to appease the and summon winds for the Trojan War. Moreau's composition highlights the emotional intensity, with tags noting female nudes, men, animals—likely evoking the deer that famously substitutes for Iphigenia in versions—and central figures like the bound young woman amid priests and warriors. Created during the Neoclassical e...