Cimon and Iphigenia
Sir Peter Lely (Soest 1618 – London 1680)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1650 - 1659
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
1030 x 1645 mm
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Knole, Kent
NT 129850
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, Cimon and Iphigenia by Sir Peter Lely (Soest 1618 – London 1680), 1650s. Four figures in a wooded landscape. Cimon on the left, gazing down on a naked Iphigenia in the centre, on her right is a sleeping naked female companion and on the extreme right is a clothed sleeping female companion. The scene depicted is taken from Boccaccio's Decameron (5:1). Cimon a boorish handsome noble was put to work in the fields by his father. He came upon the sleeping Iphigenia and fell in love. As a result he lost his boorish manners and became intelligent and well-mannered and eventually won the love of Iphigenia.
Provenance
On loan from the Trustees of the Sackville Estate
Credit line
Knole, The Sackville Collection
Makers and roles
Sir Peter Lely (Soest 1618 – London 1680), artist