The Love of Acis and Galatea (1827)

Alexandre-Charles Guillemot: The Love of Acis and Galatea

This typically tragic story based in Greek mythology is best known from Ovid's Metamorphoses. Handel wrote an opera based on the story.

Mars and Venus Surprised by Vulcan (1827)

Alexandre-Charles Guillemot: Mars and Venus Surprised by Vulcan

Like the renowned painter Ingres, Guillemot was a student of the Neoclassicist Jacques-Louis David and remained his faithful follower. During their era, French academic painters turned to Greek and Roman myths for subject matter.

This picture, which was accepted for the Salon of 1827, illustrates the story of Vulcan, Roman god of metalworking, snaring his adulterous wife with her lover, Mars. Guillemot lavished attention on Venus's sinuous pose and the careful shading of her body, the central focus of his composition. [Indianapolis Museum of Art]

Erasistratus Discovering the Cause of Antiochus’ Disease (1808)

Alexandre-Charles Guillemot: Erasistratus Discovering the Cause of Antiochus’ Disease

Guillemot (1786-1831) was a Neoclassic painter. This work is a history painting depicting an episode from Plutarch's Lives in which Greek court physician Erasistratus diagnoses the illness of Antiochus, the son of Seleucus I, as lovesickness for his stepmother Stratonice. (A summary of the story is here.) An opera about the incident received its first performance in 1792.

The story of Antiochus and Stratonice was depicted by numerous other artists; below is a sampling.

 Gerard de Lairesse: Antiochus and Stratonice (1671-75)

 

 Antonio Bellucci: Antiochus and Stratonice (ca. 1700)

 

 Johann Heiss: Antiochus and Stratonice (17th century)

  

 Benjamin West: Erasistratus the Physician Discovers the Love of Antiochus for Stratonice

 Jacques-Louis David: Antiochus and Stratonice (1774)