Ulysses Discovering Achilles among the Daughters of Lycomedes

1735 · Private collection

mythological

The subject is taken from Ovid's Metamorphoses. Knowing her son was destined to die if he went to fight in the Trojan war, Thethis, a sea nymph, disguised Achilles as a woman and entrusted him to King Lycomedes, in whose palace on the isle of Scyros he lived among the king's daughters. Odysseus and other Greek chieftains were sent to fetch Achilles.

Ulysses Discovering Achilles among the Daughters of Lycomedes

About the Artist

Pierre Subleyras

1699 – 1749

French painter who settled permanently in Rome after winning the Prix du Rome in 1727. He painted a variety of subjects, including portraits and still-lifes, but he is most highly regarded for his religious paintings, which are much more serious in spirit than most French work in the Rococo period. His most famous work is the Mass of St Basil, painted for the St Peter's, but now in the Santa Maria degli Angeli. This huge picture was highly acclaimed when it was unveiled in 1748, but Subleyras died before he could follow up his success. He has subsequently been something of an underrated figure, but a major exhibition of his work in Paris and Rome in 1987 did much to establish his reputation as one of the outstanding French painters of his period.

View all works →