The Sacrifice of Polyxena

After the fall of Troy, the Trojan women were divided among the Greeks. Achilles arose from his grave and demanded that Polyxena, the daughter of King Priam and Queen Hecuba, be slain on his tomb in order to join him in the afterlife. Behind a blindfolded Polyxena who awaits her fate on a sacrificial altar in this image, Achilles appears in warrior’s garb on a rearing horse. Gerard De Lairesse’s figures are firmly modeled, and the space clearly defined with classical architecture, and reflect his interest in French art of the same period.