- Sappho and Phaon
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Sappho and Phaon Artist Jacques-Louis David Year 1809 Type oil on canvas Dimensions 225.3 cm × 262 cm (88.7 in × 103 in) Location Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg - For the play by Percy MacKaye, see Sappho and Phaon (play).
Sappho and Phaon is an 1809 neoclassical painting by the French painter Jacques-Louis David of Cupid, Sappho and her lover Phaon. It was commissioned by Count Nikolai Yusupov and is now the only painting by David in the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg.
Sappho is shown sitting in a chair at the foot of a bed in a classically decorated room with columns, a marble floor and a view to a rural landscape outside (with Venus's birds, doves, sitting on the doorstep). Phaon stands behind the chair holding a spear and bow. On her knee is a scroll with some of her verses in praise of Phaon and Cupid kneels in front of her, holding up her lyre, which she tries to play with her right hand whilst leaning her head back to let Phaon cradle her head in his left arm.
External links
Categories:- 1809 paintings
- Jacques-Louis David paintings
- Paintings of the Hermitage
- Paintings depicting Greek myths
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