Leda2.0002_Pissarro

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Leda2.0002_Pissarro

ogcma@byu

ClCv241

Mastery

MythMatters

OGCMA s.v. "Leda"
Classical Sources:
Homer, Od. 11.298-304
Homeric Hymns to The Dioscuri, 17 and 33
Euripides, Iphigenia in Aulis 46ff.
Euripides Helen 17-21, 214-57, 1149
Strabo Geog. 10.2.24
Apollodorus Libr. 1.7.10, 3.10.5-7
Hyginus Fab. 77
Pausanias, 3.1.4, 3.13.8, 3.161.

Georges-Henri (Manzana) Pissarro, Leda and the Black Swan. Mixed media with silver and gold on canvas. 1910.

This Impressionist work depicts Leda bending over a so-called black swan under a canopy of orange trees. Despite the title, closer inspection reveals the bird to be a peacock, with distinctive plumage on the crown and tail. The peacock's tail wraps around Leda's body, embracing her and hinting at the events that are to come.

Perhaps most notable is the stylized manner in which Leda is painted, especially in comparison to the rest of the painting. The peacock and orange trees are painted in a semi-realistic fashion, with colors and proportions that mimic real life. Leda's nude body is green and blotchy, with noticably long arms and a misshapen head.

The painting was recently offered for sale, with a list price of approximately $45,000.

Slide by CB.

OGCMA slides are designed by Roger T. Macfarlane for use in Classical Civilization 241 courses at Brigham Young University.
The present resource contains information assembled for The Oxford Guide to Classical Mythology in the Arts, 1300 - 1990's, edited by J. Davidson Reid (Oxford 1994), and it is used with express permission from Oxford University press.
Address concerns or inquiries to macfarlane@byu.edu.