Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres

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Lore & Background

Ingres painted *Jupiter and Thetis* to meet his obligations to the French Academy in Rome. The painting was first exhibited at the 1811 Paris Salon, at a time when Ingres' attention to line coupled with his disregard for anatomical reality was yet to find favour among critics. Ingres highly regarded the painting, and in a manner it marries the great motifs of his career: the voluptuousness of the female character and the authoritative austerity on the male deity. Ingres kept *Jupiter and Thetis* in his studio until 1834, when it was purchased by the state. In 1848, he made a single pencil copy. The painting is steeped in the traditions of both classical and neoclassical art, most notably in its grand scale of 136+5⁄8 by 101+1⁄4 inches (3,470 mm × 2,570 mm). Jupiter's pose is closely based on that of the famous chryselephantine sculpture, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, made by the Greek sculptor Phidias circa 432 BC and destroyed in antiquity. Here the pose is reversed right to left, and the arm to the viewer's right is higher than in the original, which held out a statue of Nike.

Reader's Guide

Ingres creates many visual contrasts between Jupiter and Thetis. Jupiter is shown facing the viewer frontally with both his arms and legs spread broadly across the canvas, while the color of his dress and flesh echoes that of the marble at his feet. In contrast, Thetis is rendered in sensuous curves and portrayed in supplication to the mercy of a cruel god who holds the fate of her son in his hands. Thetis' right hand falls on Jupiter's hip with a suggestion of erotic caress, while the dark green of her dress accents the dread and foreboding of the bare landscape behind. Her clothing is drawn up against her lower hip, and seems about to fall off. The focal point of the work is Thetis' left hand extended vertically upright as she attempts to stroke the beard of the god. Although the painting's overhand tone correctly reflected the patriarchal bias of Napoleon's regime in its contrast between male power and female subservience, it is generally regarded as a rejection of such values.

Did You Know?

• *Jupiter and Thetis* was painted in 1811 when Ingres was not yet 31 years old.
• The painting's subject is borrowed from an episode in Homer's *Iliad* where Thetis begs Jupiter to intervene for her son Achilles.
• Jupiter's pose is based on the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, made by Phidias circa 432 BC.
• Ingres kept the painting in his studio until 1834, when it was purchased by the state.
• In 1848, Ingres made a single pencil copy of *Jupiter and Thetis*.