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The Tomb of Agamemnon

ca. 1787
Not on view
Trained as an architect, the French artist Desprez was appointed by King Gustav III of Sweden in 1784 as the head stage designer for the Royal Opera in Stockholm. This drawing relates to the sets Desprez made for the Swedish opera Electra, which premiered at Drottningholm Castle on July 22, 1787. The scene of Agamemnon’s interment is in the prologue, which opens with Electra and Orestes plotting to avenge their father’s murder. Desprez’s rendering is cloaked in gloom, with torches and censers dramatically lighting the architecture from below.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Tomb of Agamemnon
  • Artist: Louis Jean Desprez (French, Auxerre 1743–1804 Stockholm)
  • Date: ca. 1787
  • Medium: Pen and black ink, brush and gray wash, heightened with white gouache
  • Dimensions: 29 3/4 x 36 in. (75.6 x 91.4 cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Gifts from Mrs. Gardner Cassatt, Mrs. Francis Ormond, Bessie Potter Vonnoh, William Benton, Donald Silve, William M. Ivins Jr., and Mrs. Harry Payne Whitney, and other gifts, bequests, and funds, by exchange, 1998
  • Object Number: 1998.187
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Antoine de Chézy, Louis Jean Desprez French, Etching
Antoine de Chézy
Louis Jean Desprez
ca. 1772–76
The Capture of Selinus by Hannibal, Louis Jean Desprez French, Etching and aquatint with drypoint, state II/II
The Capture of Selinus by Hannibal
Louis Jean Desprez
n.d.
Tomb with Death Enthroned as a Sphinx, Louis Jean Desprez French, Etching and aquatint, printed in brown ink, ii/ii
Tomb with Death Enthroned as a Sphinx
Louis Jean Desprez
ca. 1779–84
Ancient Scene with a Funeral Ceremony for an Actor, Louis Jean Desprez French, Pen and black ink and watercolor
Ancient Scene with a Funeral Ceremony for an Actor
Louis Jean Desprez
Louis Félix de La Rue
ca. 1777
Design for the Decoration of the Altar to be erected during the Holy Week, Dedicated to Monseigneur Christophe de Beaumont, Archbishop of Paris, Louis Jean Desprez French, Etching
Design for the Decoration of the Altar to be erected during the Holy Week, Dedicated to Monseigneur Christophe de Beaumont, Archbishop of Paris
Louis Jean Desprez
1769

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