The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 19, 2025

Aglaida and Boniface

c. 1857

Alexandre Cabanel

(French, 1823–1889)
France, 19th century
oil on canvas
Unframed: 62.2 x 68 cm (24 1/2 x 26 3/4 in.)
Bequest of Elizabeth Ludwig Fennell 2007.275
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

Alexandre Cabanel was a leader of the academic artists who rejected the paintings of Édouard Manet and other "realists" from the Salon of 1863, producing a vast outcry that forced the government to organize the alternative Salon des Refusés.

Description

The French painter Alexandre Cabanel was a favorite of Emperor Napoleon III and a leader of the academic style that emphasized precise drawing and smoothly modeled forms. This painting depicts the wealthy Roman woman Aglaida and her concubine slave Boniface, here living as pagan sinners in Rome around 290 CE. On a trip to Tarsus on the Anatolian coast, Boniface converted to Christianity and was tortured and beheaded. Aglaida also converted to Christianity, gave all her possessions to the poor, and built a church for Boniface's relics.
  • ?–2007
    Elizabeth Ludwig Fennell [1917–2007], Cleveland, OH, bequested to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    2007–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Rétrospective Alexandre Cabanel. Musée Fabre, Montpellier, France (organizer) (July 10, 2010-January 1, 2011); Wallraf-Richartz Museum, 50667 Cologne, Germany (February 4-May 15, 2011).
    Musée Fabre, Montpellier, France (7/10/2010 - 12/5/2010) and Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, Cologne, Germany (2/4/2011 - 5/15/2011): "Rétrospective Alexandre Cabanel", ex. cat. no. 26, p. 53.
  • {{cite web|title=Aglaida and Boniface|url=false|author=Alexandre Cabanel|year=c. 1857|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2007.275