Meleager offering the boar's head to Atalanta
Engraving, part of a set of 12 mythological scenes, created by Etienne Delaune in Strasbourg in 1573. Each scene is presented inside an oval frame made up of two thin ovals, which contains an inscription for the scene. This engraving illustrates an episode of the Calydonian Hunt, in which king Oeneus of Calydon summits the greatest hunters of Greece to hunt the boars that Artemis sent after him for not including her in his offerings, promising the boar's pelt and tusks in reward. On the first plane, Meleager offers the boar's head to Atalanta, whom he was in love with and of whom he wanted to receive a child. On the second plane, two characters seem to comment on the scene. It is likely that they are two of Meleager's uncles, indignated that it is a woman who receives the prize for killing the first boar. According to the story, Meleager will later kill them, thus causing the war between Curetes and Calydon.
Artwork Details
- Title: Meleager offering the boar's head to Atalanta
- Artist: Etienne Delaune (French, Orléans 1518/19–1583 Strasbourg)
- Date: 1573
- Medium: Engraving
- Dimensions: Sheet (trimmed): 2 3/16 × 2 15/16 in. (5.6 × 7.4 cm)
- Classifications: Prints, Ornament & Architecture
- Credit Line: Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1926
- Object Number: 26.50.13
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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