The Jupiter and Thetis is a huge canvas painting of 8 feet created in 1811 by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, a French neoclassical painter, a student of Jacques-Louis Daivd. It depicts a scene from the Homer’s Iliad, that nymph Thetis begging Jupiter to intervene the Trojan War and help her son Achilles because he was involved in it. and is now in the Musee Granet, Aix-en Provence, France.
As the title indicates, Jupiter and Thetis are the main characters in the painting. Jupiter, or Zeus as we know, is the Olympia male deity. He sits on his throne above clouds, facing the viewer, with dark hairs and beard. He holds a scepter in right hand and the other arm rests on a nearby cloud. The color of his dress and body matches that of the marble at his feet. Thetis is half nude, kneeing beside Jupiter. She portrayed in supplication with one hand reaches up to touch the chin of Jupiter, and the other hand falls on Jupiter’s hip. She wears a green dress, almost fall off her lower hip.
Jupiter and Thetis are not the only figures in this mythological painting, there are a couple more. One is the eagle on the right side of the painting, gazing at Jupiter with black feathers, almost hidden in the dark background. It is a symbol of Jupiter. The other character is Jupiter’s wife Juno, also known as Hera. She is only shown a face lying on her arms, looking at her husband and Thetis from afar with alert expression.
Jupiter And Thetis 1811
