Italy / 1587–88
Aeneas Saving Anchises at the Fall of Troy
The Cleveland Museum of Art catalogs Aeneas Saving Anchises at the Fall of Troy as drawing (Italy · 1587–88).
This drawing may have been once owned by the painter Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640).
A CLOSER LOOK
The museum identifies this drawing as Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash and yellow gouache heightened with traces of white, over black chalk, with stylus (banister); framin and credits Federico Barocci (Italian, 1528–1612).
The museum's collection notes: In book two of Virgil's epic poem The Aeneid (29-19 BC), the Trojan hero Aeneas escapes from the burning city of Troy and its Greek invaders with his family. Here the artist shows them making their way through a classical corridor. Aeneas carries his elderly father, Anchises, entrusted with holding their household gods. Aeneas holds the hand of his son, Ascanius, and his wife Creusa follows behind. Creusa's separation from the group alludes to her fate: she will fall behind and not survive their flight. Quick sketches on the right border of the sheet show Barocci practicing the balancing pose of Aeneas as he carries his father, and the stance
FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE
The Cleveland Museum of ArtAeneas Saving Anchises at the Fall of TroyOriginal explanation based on the sources above. Images carry their own reuse terms.