1642
oil
copper
From the collection of Ashmolean Museum
The Oath of Semiramis is a 1642 oil by Pietro da Cortona, a Early Baroque Italian work, held at Ashmolean Museum.
This painting, "The Oath of Semiramis," depicts a scene with several figures. On the left, a woman in a yellow dress stands beside a table, while another woman in a brown dress holds a spear. A man in a blue robe kneels, pointing at something outside the frame. In the background, a man in a red robe stands in an arched doorway, and a landscape is visible through the arch. The figures are arranged in a dynamic composition, with the kneeling man drawing the viewer's attention. The use of color and light adds depth to the scene, with the yellow dress and blue robe standing out against the more subdued tones of the background. The painting's use of chiaroscuro, a technique that uses strong contrasts between light and dark, adds to its visual interest. To learn more about this technique, look up chiaroscuro.
Pietro da Cortona (Italian: ; 1 November 1596 or 1597 – 16 May 1669) was an Italian Baroque painter and architect.
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