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Source Description
Girodet found inspiration for this drawing in Aeschylus’s Greek tragedy <em>Seven against Thebes.</em> Dramatized with powerful physicality, seven warrior leaders from Argos raise weapons to the war deities Ares and Enyo at the far left as they immerse their hands in the blood of a sacrificed bull, and swear an oath to defeat Thebes. Girodet’s strong black outlines and idealized male nudes are characteristic of Neoclassicism’s calculated restraint. Yet the flash of lightning and the warrior’s impassioned expressions intensify the emotional and psychological content of the scene, anticipating the growth of romanticism in European art during the early 1800s.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
161708
label
The Oath of the Seven Chiefs against Thebes
core
obj
dtoType
drawing
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
161708
contentType
drawing
title
The Oath of the Seven Chiefs against Thebes
description
Girodet found inspiration for this drawing in Aeschylus’s Greek tragedy <em>Seven against Thebes.</em> Dramatized with powerful physicality, seven warrior leaders from Argos raise weapons to the war deities Ares and Enyo at the far left as they immerse their hands in the blood of a sacrificed bull, and swear an oath to defeat Thebes. Girodet’s strong black outlines and idealized male nudes are characteristic of Neoclassicism’s calculated restraint. Yet the flash of lightning and the warrior’s impassioned expressions intensify the emotional and psychological content of the scene, anticipating the growth of romanticism in European art during the early 1800s.
date
c. 1800
citation
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q79984786
creators
1697
genreSpecific
Drawing
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Overall: 41.8 x 62 cm (16 7/16 x 24 7/16 in.)
cul
France, late 18th, early 19th century
accession
2000.71
Source extras
tec
Black chalks and white chalk with stumping and erasing on light brown wove paper
tombstone
The Oath of the Seven Chiefs against Thebes, c. 1800. Anne-Louis Girodet de Roucy-Trioson (French, 1767–1824). Black chalks and white chalk with stumping and erasing on light brown wove paper; overall: 41.8 x 62 cm (16 7/16 x 24 7/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund, 2000.71
supportMaterials
description
light brown wove paper
collection
DR - French
inscriptions
inscription
The number 29 (est.) is inscribed along the bottom edge in graphite (over black chalk?)
citations
citation
Cleveland Museum of Art, “Recent Acquisitions Press Release,” October 6, 2000, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 1
citation
Foster, Carter E. ""Magnificent Seven." <em>Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine</em> 41, no. 2 (February 2001): 4-5.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: p. 4-5
citation
Bellenger, Sylvain, ed.<em> Girodet, 1767-1824</em>. [Paris, France]: Gallimard, 2006.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 424, cat. 100
creditline
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
updatedAt
2026-05-29 08:24:19.070000
sourceId
161708
dept
Drawings
coll
DR - French
med
Black chalks and white chalk with stumping and erasing on light brown wove paper
creatorTags
male
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
df360315778ba353