The Despair of Hecuba

Pierre Peyron French

Not on view

Peyron prevailed over Jacques Louis David in the 1773 Prix de Rome competition and would spend seven years studying at the Académie de France. In what was framed as a rivalry, both painters sought to establish their reputations by exhibiting subjects of ancient history at the Salons of the 1780s, although public opinion, and posterity, ultimately favored the work of David.

This delicately tinted drawing shares the elegiac tone of many of Peyron’s compositions, manifest in the swooning poses of the figures and the expressively rendered drapery.

The Despair of Hecuba, Pierre Peyron (French, Aix-en-Provence 1744–1814 Paris), Pen and black ink, gray wash

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The Despair of Hecuba, Pierre Peyron (French, Aix-en-Provence 1744–1814 Paris), Pen and black ink, gray wash
The Despair of Hecuba, Pierre Peyron (French, Aix-en-Provence 1744–1814 Paris), Pen and black ink, gray wash
The Despair of Hecuba, Pierre Peyron (French, Aix-en-Provence 1744–1814 Paris), Pen and black ink, gray wash
The Despair of Hecuba, Pierre Peyron (French, Aix-en-Provence 1744–1814 Paris), Pen and black ink, gray wash
The Despair of Hecuba, Pierre Peyron (French, Aix-en-Provence 1744–1814 Paris), Pen and black ink, gray wash

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