3-098-960 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Battle of the Lapiths and Centaurs, 1835. Pirithous, king of the Lapiths in Thessaly, prepared a lavish banquet for his wedding to the Argolic princess Hippodamia. Both were related to the centaurs, who were invited to the celebration. But the Lapiths forgot to include Mars in their offerings, which immediately brought terrible consequences. Enraged, the god of war incited the centaurs, who, drunk and unable to control their bestial nature, attempted to kidnap and rape the Lapith women. Eurytus, leader of the centaurs, who desired his cousin Pirithous's new wife, abducted Hippodamia. The most famous account of this legend, thanks to Ovid, narrates the details of the mythical battle. In the centre is Theseus, with one arm around Hippodamia, recently recovered from the grasp of the centaur Eurytus, who lies on the ground. Behind them, with his back to the viewer and still in his wedding attire, appears Pirithous facing another centaur who is attacking him with a stone. The banqueting table is just visible, surrounded by combatants engaged in violent clashes, an almost exclusively male affair. The artist concentrated on the anatomical study of the figures, the main attraction of the composition - bodies, intertwined in a sensual and balanced succession of contorted nudes.