Ajax in the Grave

ca. 1790–99

Not on view

This drawing is a most impressive example of Mechau's mature style and can be dated to the end of the eighteenth century, when the artist's compositions were moving away from the influence of Claude Lorrain, who generally treated the human element in his landscapes as mere staffage. Here, the towering trees are given no greater importance than the scene depicted underneath. The subject of the drawing is explained by a 1785 poem by the German poet and philosopher Johann Gottfried Herder (1744-1803), inscribed on the back of the sheet, probably in the artist's own hand. A cowardly Phrygian soldier, who only dares to threaten the Trojan hero Ajax when he is dead and buried, jumps backward when Ajax shouts to him from his grave. It is not known for what purpose the drawing was made. A drawing by Mechau at the Albertina, Vienna, is also inscribed with a poem by Herder.

Artwork Details

Overview

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Provenance

Exhibition History

Title: Ajax in the Grave
Artist: Jacob Wilhelm Mechau (German, Leipzig 1745–1808 Dresden)
Date: ca. 1790–99
Medium: Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash, over graphite
Dimensions: 22 1/4 x 31 1/2 in. (56.5 x 80 cm)
Classification: Drawings
Credit Line: Harry G. Sperling Fund, 2007
Object Number: 2007.322
Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

By Jacob Wilhelm Mechau

In the same medium

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A Tavern at Monte Testaccio, Jacob Wilhelm Mechau German, Etching — A Tavern at Monte Testaccio
Jacob Wilhelm Mechau
1793

The Caves of Acradina near Syracuse in Sicily, Jacob Wilhelm Mechau German, Pen and brownish gray ink, brush and brownish gray wash, over black chalk; framing lines in pen and dark brown ink — The Caves of Acradina near Syracuse in Sicily
Jacob Wilhelm Mechau
1797

Landscape, Jacob Wilhelm Mechau German, Watercolor, pen and ink over graphite; framing lines in pen and ink — Landscape
Jacob Wilhelm Mechau
1785

Border Designs for the Mortlake "Acts of the Apostles" Tapestries, Franz Cleyn German, Watercolor with white heightening, details in pen and ink and graphite — Border Designs for the Mortlake "Acts of the Apostles" Tapestries
Franz Cleyn
ca. 1626–36

Virgil's Tomb with a View of the Bay of Naples in the Moonlight, Carl Georg Anton Graeb German, Graphite, white gouache, and pen and brown ink (?) — Virgil's Tomb with a View of the Bay of Naples in the Moonlight
Carl Georg Anton Graeb
1860–84

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