Apollo and Sarpedon
Jean Simon Berthélemy (1743-1811) Paris, 1781 Huile sur toile
Sarpedon, son of Zeus, was killed in the Trojan War. “Sarpedon’s body washed […], Apollo ordered Sleep and Death to take him to Lycia where his family and friends would give him a magnificent funeral”. This painting was exhibited at the Salon of 1781. It was Berthélemy’s reception piece at the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture. Diderot praised the “good composition” and “pleasant effect” of the work, despite some reservations, notably about Apollo’s leg (“a little too big for his body?”) and the sky (“rather even in tone”).