Phryne Before the Areopagus
ArtistJean-Léon Gérôme
Year1861
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions80.5 cm × 128 cm (31.7 in × 50 in)
LocationKunsthalle Hamburg, Hamburg

Phryne Before the Areopagus (French: Phryne devant l'Areopage) is an 1861 painting by the French artist Jean-Léon Gérôme. The subject matter is Phryne, an ancient Greek hetaira (courtesan) who was put on trial for impiety. Phryne was acquitted after her defender Hypereides removed her robe and exposed her naked bosom, "to excite the pity of her judges by the sight of her beauty."[1]

The painting was exhibited at the 1861 Salon.[2] It is in the collection of the Kunsthalle Hamburg in Germany.

Caricatures

Bernhard Gillam made a famous caricature drawing in 1884 titled Phryne Before the Chicago Tribunal, where Phryne is replaced by the Republican Party presidential candidate James G. Blaine, covered in scandals, and Hypereides by the newspaper editor Whitelaw Reid. Teddy Roosevelt can be seen in the front row.[3]

Another caricature followed in 1908, The High Tariff Phryne Before the Tribunal.[4]

References

  1. ↑ C. D. Yonge (1854). "Athenaeus: The Deipnosophists". Retrieved 4 March 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  2. ↑ Ackerman, Gerald M. (1986). The Life and Work of Jean-Léon Gérôme: with a Catalogue Raisonné. London; New York: Sotheby's Publications. p. 25. ISBN 9780856673115.
  3. ↑ "Phryne before the Chicago tribunal". Retrieved 2016-10-09 – via Library of Congress.
  4. ↑ "The High Tariff Phryne Before the Tribunal". Retrieved 2019-12-23 – via Library of Congress.

Media related to Phryne revealed before the Areopagus at Wikimedia Commons

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