Thetis and Achilles
Medium
Etching on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
Image: 18 × 14 cm (7 1/8 × 5 9/16 in.); Plate: 20.5 × 14.6 cm (8 1/8 × 5 3/4 in.); Sheet: 29.1 × 21.4 cm (11 1/2 × 8 7/16 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
159802
Art Historical Context
In the Prints and Drawings department of the Institute of Chicago, Johann Tischbein the Elder's *Thetis and Achilles* (7) captures a poignant moment from Greek mythology. The etching depicts the sea nymph Thetis tenderly dipping her son Achilles into the River St, granting him near-invulnerability—save for his famous heel—in a scene rich with themes of maternal love and fate. Tischbein, a prominent German artist from the prolific Tischbein family, worked in the Rococo style, blending elegant lines with emotional narrative, reflective of mid-18th-century Europe's fascination with classical anti...