Oedipus and the Sphinx

The painting is executed in oil on canvas. Moreau adopted a deliberately archaic style, rejecting the realism and naturalism prevalent in mid-19th-century France. Unusually for the artist, he employed a meticulous, analytical method comprising preparatory drawings, studies, sketches, and squaring of the canvas, a process that spanned roughly four years.

The handling is refined and detailed, contrasting with the broad spatula application he used in other works. The composition centers on the intense, locked gaze between Oedipus and the Sphinx, set against a rocky landscape with symbolic details such as a snake, butterfly, and corpse fragments. The formal qualities emphasize contemplative immobility and a dense layering of symbolic meaning.

Gustave Moreau painted Oedipus and the Sphinx in 1864, reportedly working on it for about four years. The painting debuted at the French Salon of 1864, where it was an immediate success. At the Salon, it was purchased by Prince Napoléon Bonaparte, a cousin of Emperor Napoleon III, for 8,000 francs.

In 1868, the work was sold to the prominent art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel, and later that same year it was acquired by William H. Herriman of Rome. Herriman donated the painting to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1920, where it remains one of the few major works by Moreau outside France.

Exhibited at the 1864 Salon, Gustave Moreau's Oedipus and the Sphinx achieved immediate critical success, garnering praise from Théophile Gautier, Maxime Du Camp, and Paul de Saint-Victor, and earning a medal. It revived history painting amid the dominance of realism and naturalism, positioning Moreau as a pivotal figure in the emergence of Symbolism. Critics lauded the work for uniting 'thought and execution' and uncovering 'the symbol hidden behind the fable.'

While some noted influences from Mantegna and Carpaccio, the painting was celebrated for its enigmatic, archaic treatment of classical myth. Subsequent scholarship (e.g., von Holten, Dorra) has interpreted the canvas as engaging with the idealism–materialism debate and as a forerunner of Symbolist themes of the femme fatale. The painting's triumph launched Moreau's career and remains central to his legacy.

Gustave Moreau's 1864 oil on canvas, Oedipus and the Sphinx, marked a significant debut at the French Salon. This painting depicts the mythical encounter between the hero and the monstrous Sphinx, a scene drawn from classical literature. Its exhibition garnered immediate acclaim, establishing Moreau's distinct artistic vision and securing its place in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.