On loan to The Met The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
The Marriage of Mérope and Polyphonte
Gabriel de Saint-Aubin French
Not on view
This ambitious drawing depicts a scene from Voltaire’s tragedy Mérope, first staged in Paris in 1743. Before an altar to Hymen, Mérope, the mythical Greek queen, reacts in horror as Egisthe, who turns out to be her long-lost son, murders the tyrannical Polyphonte.
The work is an early example of Saint-Aubin’s tendency to see mythology and ancient history through the lens of contemporary theater. He would later etch the composition on a much smaller scale and in a vertical orientation.
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