Boreas Abducting Oreithyia

c. 1755–1760

Jean-Baptiste-Marie Pierre

(French, 1713–1789)

Culture

France, 18th century

Medium

red chalk

Support

Beige laid paper, laid down on cream laid paper (mount by François Renaud, Lugt Suppl. 1042)

Measurements

Overall: 22.5 x 40.9 cm (8 7/8 x 16 1/8 in.)

Credit Line

Bequest of Muriel Butkin 2008.366

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Location

Not on view

Description

Pierre took the subject of this drawing from the celebrated work the Metamorphoses by the Roman poet Ovid (43 bc-ad 17), which recounts the loves of the gods and goddesses of antiquity. Oreithyia, daughter of Erectheus, king of Athens, so inspired the passion of the god of the north wind, Boreas, that he descended to the earth to kidnap her. Although this subject was not especially common, Ovid was a favorite source for painters during the 1700s. Pierre was influenced here by a tapestry designed by François Boucher showing the same scene.