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Pyrrhus in the House of Glaucias

ca. 1752–56
Not on view
This drawing illustrates a scene from Plutarch’s Lives: the infant king Pyrrhus, after he is banished from his native Epirus, is presented to the Illyrian king Glaucias and his wife to request asylum. This large and fluidly worked sheet was included among the drawings Pajou exhibited in the Salon of 1759 and was part of the collection of his former teacher, the sculptor Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne the Younger (French, 1704–1778). The precisely delineated shadows evoke the shallow space of a relief sculpture, and in fact, this composition would go on to be realized in three dimensions, twice in plaster and once in leather.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Pyrrhus in the House of Glaucias
  • Artist: Augustin Pajou (French, Paris 1730–1809 Paris)
  • Date: ca. 1752–56
  • Medium: Black chalk, pen and gray ink, brush and gray wash on two joined sheets
  • Dimensions: Sheet: 22 5/16 × 31 5/16 in. (56.7 × 79.5 cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Harry G. Sperling Fund, 2014
  • Object Number: 2014.439
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

More Artwork
Madame de Wailly, née Adélaïde-Flore Belleville (1765–1838), Augustin Pajou French, Bust: marble; base: grey marble, French, Paris
Madame de Wailly, née Adélaïde-Flore Belleville (1765–1838)
Augustin Pajou
1789
Ceramic Horn, Glazed pottery, French
Ceramic Horn
French
late 18th or early 19th century
Amya Petitioning Faustus for the Custody of Saint Mamas, Jean Cousin the Elder French, Pen and brown ink, brush and gray wash, heightened with white, over black chalk
Amya Petitioning Faustus for the Custody of Saint Mamas
Jean Cousin the Elder
ca. 1543
Torchère figure (one of a pair), Augustin Pajou French, Plaster, carved and gilded wood, French
Torchère figure (one of a pair)
Style of Augustin Pajou
19th century
Guitar, Jean-Baptiste Voboam French, Spruce, tortoiseshell, mother-of-pearl, ivory, ebony, French
Guitar
attributed to Jean-Baptiste Voboam
1697

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