The Sacrifice of Iphigenia
1642
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
About the artist
Artist
Pietro Testa
Pietro Testa (1612 – 1 March 1650) was an Italian High Baroque artist active in Rome.
See the richer artist page1642
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
The Sacrifice of Iphigenia is a 1642 by Pietro Testa, a Baroque work, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.
This is a Baroque drawing from around 1642. It shows a myth story from the Trojan War. The moment is when the goddess Diana saves Iphigenia by swapping her with a deer. The artist made this as a warm-up for an engraving he planned to print the same year. It mixes ancient gods and human drama in one scene. Next, check out the Victoria and Albert Museum.
The drawing is a preparatory study for Pietro Testa’s engraving *The Sacrifice of Iphigenia* (c. 1642), depicting the mythological moment when the goddess Diana replaces Iphigenia with a deer. The composition includes a tree, male figures, and soldiers, with Agamemnon weeping at center right, Achilles standing to the left, and Diana sketched in the upper right sky. The sheet, partially unfinished and cut in two places, omits Iphigenia’s figure, which would have occupied the lower left. Testa, a Roman printmaker and draughtsman trained by Domenichino, focused on classical antiquity and…
Read the full account in the museum source.
Pietro Testa (1612 – 1 March 1650) was an Italian High Baroque artist active in Rome.
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