The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 21, 2024

Philoctetes on the Island of Lemnos

Philoctetes on the Island of Lemnos

c. 1510–1515
(Italian, 1495/99–1574)
Italy, 16th century
marble
Overall: 29 x 23 x 8.5 cm (11 7/16 x 9 1/16 x 3 3/8 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1973.168
Location: not on view

Description

A snake bit the Greek warrior Philoctetes en route to the Trojan War. The stench of the infected wound led the ship’s crew to abandon him on the island of Lemnos, where he fans the agonizing injury with a bird’s wing. The warrior’s noble suffering in the face of tremendous pain would have been a classical model of stoic composure, highly valued in Renaissance court culture.
  • Possibly Walter Savage Landor, 1775-1864 (London, England), by gift to his brother, Henry Savage Landor
    Possibly Henry Savage Landor
    John Pope-Hennessy, 1913-1994 (New York, New York), sold to Rosenberg and Stiebel.
    Rosenberg and Stiebel (New York, New York), sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1973.
  • The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 104 archive.org
  • The Persistence of Classicism in Sculpture. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 16, 1988-January 15, 1989).
    Year in Review: 1973. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 30-March 17, 1974).
  • {{cite web|title=Philoctetes on the Island of Lemnos|url=false|author=Giovanni Maria Mosca|year=c. 1510–1515|access-date=21 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1973.168