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Pietro Testa
Achilles dragging Hector's body around the walls of Troy (c. 1648-1650)
etching
26.5 × 41.9 cm (image and sheet, trimmed to platemark)
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Gift of Professor Peter Tomory, 1991
Photo: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
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Achilles dragging Hector's body around the walls of Troy
(c. 1648-1650)
Medium
etching
Measurements
26.5 × 41.9 cm (image and sheet, trimmed to platemark)
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Gift of Professor Peter Tomory, 1991
Gallery location
16th & 17th Century Gallery - Painting and Sculpture
Mezzanine linked to Level 1, NGV International
About this work
Homer’s Iliad recounts that after killing the Trojan prince and hero Hector, Achilles dragged his body behind a chariot around the walls of Troy. Testa depicted this scene from Homer’s text set among recognisably Roman monuments of the Colosseum, the Pantheon and the Torre delle Milizie. From the 1640s grand tourists in Rome provided an important new market for original prints, particularly those engaging with the city’s classical past. Educated and wealthy, these men were passionate collectors and Testa’s prints, with their complex allegories based on the study of antiquity and references to classical art and culture, were highly appealing.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
Rome, Italy
Catalogue/s Raisonné
Bartsch XX.221.22 ; Cropper 121
Edition
4th of 6 states
Printing/Publishing
published by Vincenzo Billi
Inscription
printed in ink (in image) l.l.: In Roma da Vincenzo Billy
printed in ink (in image) l.c.: P. Testa fecit.
Accession Number
P93-1991
Departments
International Prints / International Prints and Drawings
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of the Joe White Bequest