Ulysses Recognises Achilles Amongst The Daughters Of Lycomedes

Size: 81.3 x 115 cm (32 x 45.3 in)
Signed: Signed and dated lower-left: L Gauffier Roma 1791

Related Works: Pendant To The Painting Générosité Des Dames Romaines, 1790, Exhibited Salon Of 179 N:

Exhibited: 1791 Paris Salon, no. 720 as Achille reconnu par Ulysse

Doric columns and a peristyle create perspective in his Achille reconnu and dramatically emphasise the contrast of light and shade in the picture. Critics of the 1791 Salon, (where Regnault showed The Education of Achilles), remarked of Gauffier’s painting ‘ce tableau est joli, bien dessiné.’ Whilst the artist used strong line to draw the characteristic aquiline profiles and drapery of his figures, Gauffier at the same time injected this near-two-dimensionality with a palpable energy: the girls pluck instruments, gasp and lean their weight into a strong wind; Achilles’ muscles tense with the weight of the sword as he steadies the plumed helmet on his head; Ulysses recognizes the boy with a theatrical gesture. Far from the relaxed recline of a Boucher Venus, the dramatic poses of Gauffier’s figures are calculated and didactic, there to clearly communicate the canonical story.

In reaction to lingering Rococo painting, late 1780’s Neoclassicism, expressed a desire to return to the perceived stoicism and purity of Republican Rome and the ideals of Athenian democracy. Much like the nostalgia that would fuel the Romanticism of Casper David Friedrich, Carus and /., Neoclassicism’s longing for ancient times was based on dissatisfaction and a misunderstanding of historical realities. Nonetheless, Neoclassicism’s celebration of the ideals of antiquity as they were understood in contemporary France served a very contemporary purpose. The French revolution in 1789 was the nail in the coffin of Rococo’s indulgent frivolity which was swiftly condemned as exemplary of aristocratic licentiousness and profligacy. Neoclassicism became a tool of the Republic (though it would outlive the Directory to serve Napoleon’s Empire after 1804 equally well.)

The story of Achilles recognized by Ulysses is a thread of the Iliad, Homer’s epic poem of the Trojan War. After giving birth to a half-mortal son, the goddess Thetis was forewarned he would die young. In efforts to save Achilles, she attempted to make him immortal by dipping him in the river Styx (save his achilles heel) and decided to hide him away from the glory and early death the Fates said he would find in war. Thetis dressed her son as a girl and concealed him amongst the many daughters of a nearby King, Lycomedes. When Ulysses and the Greek Kings were told they could not win the impending Trojan War without the young hero fighting for them, Ulysses set a trap for the boy. He presented the daughters of Lycomedes with jewels, dresses, and a single set of armour. The girls rushed to play with the dresses and jewels, whilst one girl alone rushed towards the helmet, sword and shield. Thus Ulysses uncovered Achilles in disguise. The hero died young, but immortalised in legend: the greatest Greek warrior, having defeated Hector and the nigh impenetrable Troy.

Gauffier never returned to France (after a brief trip in 1789); he remained in Rome from 1784 until French citizens were forced to leave the capital in 1793. Though not on the formal list of émigrés, the artist, initially excited by the new freedom to exhibit at the Salon the revolution provided, was forced to move his wife and young family to Florence after being branded a royalist. However it was not Gauffier’s early death age thirty-eight that makes history painting by the artist rare: the artist was forced in Florence to turn to portraiture and landscape painting in order to earn a living. Though adept at both the later genres, Gauffier’s potentially extraordinary and long career as a history painter was cut short by the storm of contemporary events -by history.