2-745-024 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

The Meeting of Orestes and Hermione, c. 1800. When Jacques-Louis David was approached to work on a new edition of Jean Racine’s plays, the great Neoclassical artist passed the task to his pupil Girodet, who excelled at illustrating literature. This highly refined drawing depicts a scene from Racine’s Andromaque, a complex tale of unrequited love and political treachery. Cléone introduces the love-blind Orestes to Hermione, who exploits his affection to make him do her bidding. Girodet skillfully contrasts Orestes’s eagerness and Hermione’s calculating character. With folded arms, she turns away, standing like a statue between the columns of a cool marble interior. Yet Hermione’s sly, backward glance alerts the viewer of her cunning manipulation, which eventually drives Orestes mad.