1792
oil
canvas
From the collection of Art Institute of Chicago
Virgil Reading the "Aeneid" to Augustus, Octavia, and Livia is a 1792 oil by Jean-Baptiste Wicar, a Neoclassicism work, depicting Aeneas, held at Art Institute of Chicago.
The painting shows Virgil reading to Augustus and his family. They are seated in a classical setting. The scene is from ancient Roman history, which was popular in art at the time. The artist chose this scene to convey a sense of seriousness and importance. Look up the technique of chiaroscuro to learn more about how artists like this one used light and dark.
In the late 18th century, the French Academy promoted a severely Classical approach to history painting as a means to regenerate art—and in contrast to the perceived decadence of the Rococo style. Jacques-Louis David and his students were leading exponents of this Neoclassical approach, treating antique subjects as moral exemplars for contemporary audiences. Here, David’s student Jean-Baptiste Wicar depicted the response of the Roman emperor Augustus and his family to Virgil’s reading of his epic poem the Aeneid, which tells the story of Aeneas, the Trojan prince who settled in Latium after…
Possibly in the possession of the artist until his death in 1834 [an early painting depicting Virgil is described in inventory of property drawn up after Wicar’s death, as “il Quadro rappresentante Virgilio dipinto dal defonto nei primi anni della sua Gioventù”, see Wise and Warner 1996, pp. 175-8]; possibly bequeathed to Wicar’s student, Giuseppe Carattoli (died 1850), Perugia [see Wise and Warner 1996 and Caracciolo and Rosenberg 2002, p. 245]. Possibly Mario Praz [Carlo Sestieri stated in a letter of March 21, 1981, to Susan Wise that he thought he had acquired the painting in an exchange…
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Neo-Classicism: Style and Motif, 1964, cat. 117, as François Xavier Fabre. The Denver Art Museum, Great Stories in Art, February 13–March 27, 1966, no cat.Oshkosh, Wisconsin, The Paine Art Center and Arboretum, Empire Profile, 1968, no cat., as François Xavier Fabre. Kansas City, Missouri, The Nelson-Atkins Museum, The Taste of Napoleon, 1969, cat. 24 (in The Nelson Gallery and Atkins Museum Bulletin, 4, 10 [1969]), as François Xavier Fabre. The Art Institute of Chicago, Selected Works of Eighteenth-Century French Art in the Collections of The Art Institute of…
Read the full account in the museum source.
Jean-Baptiste Wicar (1762–1834) was a French artist, born in Lille.
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