Latona and the Peasants of Lycia
François Lemoyne, Latona and the Peasants of Lycia, 1721, oil on canvas, Bequest of Dr. Edwin Binney, 3rd, public domain, 94.30.3
This work is not currently on view.
- Title
Latona and the Peasants of Lycia
- Artist
- Date
1721
- Medium
oil on canvas
- Dimensions (H x W x D)
30 1/2 in x 38 1/2 in
- Collection Area
European Art
- Category
Paintings
- Object Type
painting
- Culture
French
- Credit Line
Bequest of Dr. Edwin Binney, 3rd
- Accession Number
94.30.3
- Copyright
public domain
- Terms
Lemoyne specialized in grand history paintings depicting mythological and religious subjects, as seen in his important commissions for the church of Saint Sulpice in Paris and the chateau of Versailles. In this painting he depicts the goddess Latona, or Leto, who bore two children, Apollo and Artemis, to Zeus, king of the gods. Fleeing the wrath of Queen Hera, Latona reached the island of Lycia. When peasants she encountered at a pond refused her water, Latona cursed their rudeness, turning them into frogs. In Lemoyne's painting, the startled rustics are on the verge of their unhappy transformation.
- Exhibitions
2015 Paradise: Fallen Fruit Portland Art Museum
