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Lot Essay
A painter of historical subjects and landscapes from Bordeaux, Pallière exhibited regularly at the Salon from 1808 to 1814 before leaving for Brazil in 1818. He was commissioned by King Dom João VI, Sovereign of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarve, to paint views of Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Minas Gerais.
This drawing was probably produced during the artist’s stay in Rio de Janeiro, where he remained until 1830. The subject is drawn from Book 6 of Virgil’s Aeneid: Aeneas, having escaped the Fall of Troy at the hands of the Greeks, seeks entry to the underworld in order to speak to the ghost of his father, Anchises. He obtains the help of the Cumaean Sibyl, a 700-year-old prophetess living in the South of Italy, who recognizes Aeneas as the forefather of the Roman nation. Before entering the underworld Aeneas must obtain the Golden Bough which grows nearby in the woods to bring as a gift to Proserpina.
This drawing was probably produced during the artist’s stay in Rio de Janeiro, where he remained until 1830. The subject is drawn from Book 6 of Virgil’s Aeneid: Aeneas, having escaped the Fall of Troy at the hands of the Greeks, seeks entry to the underworld in order to speak to the ghost of his father, Anchises. He obtains the help of the Cumaean Sibyl, a 700-year-old prophetess living in the South of Italy, who recognizes Aeneas as the forefather of the Roman nation. Before entering the underworld Aeneas must obtain the Golden Bough which grows nearby in the woods to bring as a gift to Proserpina.