''Coresus Sacrificing Himself to Save Callirhoe'' is a large oil-on-canvas painting by the French

Rococo Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...

artist

Jean-Honoré Fragonard Jean-Honoré Fragonard (; 5 April 1732 (birth/baptism certificate) – 22 August 1806) was a French painter and printmaker whose late Rococo manner was distinguished by remarkable facility, exuberance, and hedonism. One of the most prolific art ...

, created in 1765. The painting was exhibited at the Salon of 1765 and earned Fragonard entry into the

Académie Royale An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

Scene

The story is described in the book ''

Description of Greece Pausanias ( /pɔːˈseɪniəs/; grc-gre, Παυσανίας; c. 110 – c. 180) was a Greek traveler and geographer of the second century AD. He is famous for his ''Description of Greece'' (, ), a lengthy work that describes ancient Greece ...

'' (VII, 21), by

Pausanias Pausanias ( el, Παυσανίας) may refer to: *Pausanias of Athens, lover of the poet Agathon and a character in Plato's ''Symposium'' *Pausanias the Regent, Spartan general and regent of the 5th century BC * Pausanias of Sicily, physician of t ...

. During a time of plague, the inhabitants of the ancient Greek city of

Calydon Calydon (; grc, Καλυδών, ) was a Greek city in ancient Aetolia, situated on the west bank of the river Evenus, 7.5 Roman miles (approx. 11 km) from the sea. Its name is most famous today for the Calydonian boar that had to be ov ...

ask the oracle at

Dodona Dodona (; Doric Greek: Δωδώνα, ''Dōdṓnā'', Ionic and Attic Greek: Δωδώνη, ''Dōdṓnē'') in Epirus in northwestern Greece was the oldest Hellenic oracle, possibly dating to the second millennium BCE according to Herodotus. Th ...

how they might end the plague that has fallen upon the population. The oracle replies that they must sacrifice a beautiful girl named

Callirhoe Callirrhoe (, grc, Καλλιρρόη; also Callirhoe) may refer to: * Callirhoe (mythology), several figures in Greek mythology, including: ** Callirrhoe (Oceanid), daughter of Oceanus and Tethys ** Callirrhoe (daughter of Achelous) * Callirrhoe ...

or find someone to die for her. At the climax of the story, the victim is brought to the temple where the head priest, a man named Coresus, who has always loved Callirhoe, has the task of slaying her to save the city. Fragonard's painting depicts Coresus plunging a knife into his body, sacrificing himself to save Callirhoe, who has fainted.

History

The painting was exhibited at the Salon of 1765 and earned Fragonard entry into the

. It has been often described as Fragonard's effort to combine his own tendencies with academic requirements and it stands in stark contrast to the paintings for which Fragonard would later be known, erotic domestic scenes and figures of fantasy. The work was acquired by

Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached ...

and is now in the

Musée du Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

. The preparatory sketch for the work belongs to the collection of the

Musée des Beaux-Arts d'Angers The Musée des beaux-arts d'Angers is a museum of art located in a mansion, the "logis Barrault", place Saint-Éloi near the historic city of Angers. Building The museum is part of the Toussaint complex, which includes the garden of Fine Arts, ...

, and a ''

ricordo A modello (plural modelli), from Italian, is a preparatory study or model, usually at a smaller scale, for a work of art or architecture, especially one produced for the approval of the commissioning patron. The term gained currency in art circl ...

'' has been part of the

Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando The Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando (RABASF; ), located on the Calle de Alcalá in the heart of Madrid, currently functions as a museum and gallery. A public law corporation, it is integrated together with other Spanish royal acade ...

in Madrid since 1816. Later, Fragonard created a loose chalk sketch of the same scene but at a smaller scale. This drawing is currently in the collection of the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

Gallery

File:Corésus et Callirrhoé.jpg,

''Coresus and Callirhoe'', oil sketch. Musée des Beaux-Arts d'Angers.

File:Jean-Honoré Fragonard - El sacrificio de Caliroe - Google Art Project.jpg,

''The Sacrifice of Callirhoe'', oil ''ricordo''. Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, Madrid.

References

{{Authority control Paintings by Jean-Honoré Fragonard 1765 paintings Paintings in the Louvre by French artists