The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of April 18, 2024
Boreas Abducting Oreithyia
c. 1755–1760
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.- Collection Pierre Geismar (Lugt 2078b; sale November 15, 1928(?)); Contemporary mount with the mark 'FR' (Lugt 1042); (Galerie Arnoldi-Livie, Munich); Mrs. Noah L. Butkin, Cleveland (1998)
- Foster, Carter E., Sylvain Bellenger, and Patrick Shaw Cable. French Master Drawings from the Collection of Muriel Butkin. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2001. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 15, p. 40-41
- French Master Drawings from the Collection of Muriel Butkin. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 26-October 28, 2001); Dahesh Museum of Art (February 19-May 18, 2002).
- {{cite web|title=Boreas Abducting Oreithyia|url=false|author=Jean-Baptiste-Marie Pierre|year=c. 1755–1760|access-date=18 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2008.366