Meeting between Hector and Andromache with their Son Astyanax carried by a Nurse
British (English) School
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1759 - 1769
Materials
Oil on canvas (grisaille)
Measurements
1016 x 1270 (40 x 50 in) (E)
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Kedleston Hall, Derbyshire
NT 108778
Summary
Oil painting on canvas (grisaille), Meeting between Hector and Andromache with their Son Astyanax carried by a Nurse. A scene from one of the most famous episodes in Homer's Iliad (6.369-502). When Hector returns to Troy from the battlefield to arrange for offerings to be made to the gods, he meets Andromache his wife with his son Astyanax on the city walls. She begs him not to carry on risking his life in battle but he refuses saying he could not play the coward but must fight in the forefront of the battle though he knows in his heart that Troy will eventually perish.
Provenance
Recorded in the Hall by 1769; bought with part of the contents of Kedleston Hall with the aid of the National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF) in 1986 when the house and park were given to the National Trust by Francis Curzon, 3rd Viscount Scarsdale (1924-2000)
Credit line
Kedleston Hall, The Scarsdale Collection (acquired with the help of the National Heritage Memorial Fund and transferred to The National Trust in 1987)
Makers and roles
British (English) School, artist