(Aix-en-Provence 1744–1814 Paris)
The Death of Alcestis,
oil on canvas, 96 x 106 cm, framed

Provenance:
private collection, France.

We are grateful to Udolpho van de Sandt, author of the catalogue raisonné of Peyron’s works, who has confirmed the present painting to be an autograph replica of the version made in 1794 and now preserved in the North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh. The latter painting in turn is a variant of the large-scale composition in the Louvre in Paris.

Peyron, who had first studied at the drawing school of Aix-en-Provence and subsequently under Louis-Jean-François Lagrenée, called l’Aîné, in Paris, won the Grand Prize for Painting at the Académie Royale, outrivaling his competitor, Jacques-Louis David. In 1775 he moved to Rome as the Academy’s pensionary. Peyron’s stay in Rome was repeatedly prolonged thanks to the support of his patron, the Comte d’Angiviller, Directeur des Bâtiments du Roi. The works dating from this period betray a distinct influence from Poussin. By 1782 Peyron had returned to Paris and the subsequent year was admitted to the Academy as an ‘Agrée’. In 1785 he exhibited La Mort d’Alceste, his admission piece for the Academy (today in the Louvre), at the Paris Salon, while his rival David presented Oath of the Horatii, with which he triumphed. During that period Peyron, then still supported by the Comte d’Angiviller, was appointed ‘Inspecteur Général’ of the Gobelins tapestry factory. In 1787 he was admitted to the Academy as a full member. That same year he exhibited his Death of Socrates at the Salon. The public, however, preferred David’s version of the subject, which was displayed next to Peyron’s. In 1792 Peyron lost his post at the tapestry factory and moved to an apartment provided to him at the Louvre. His output as a painter gradually declined, while he concentrated on book illustration. When he died in 1814, his old rival David said at his grave: “Peyron m’a ouvert les yeux…” [Peyron opened my eyes].

In the present painting Peyron relates an episode from Greek mythology that had been described by Euripides in a tragedy. Alcestis, the daughter of King Pelias, had so many suitors that her father felt forced to announce that she would only marry the man who succeeded in yoking a boar and a lion to the wedding chariot. Admetus, with the aid of Apollo, managed to complete the task (Apollo had been ordered to serve Admetus in order to atone for an offence). However, Admetus forgot to thank Artemis for his success with a sacrifice. Consequently, the insulted goddess sent several snakes to the couple’s nuptial chamber – a sign of Admetus’ early death. Apollo extracted from the Fates the promise that Admetus would live if someone else were prepared to die for him. Since no one volunteered for this noble feat, his young wife Alcestis sacrificed herself. After her death, the inconsolable husband had a visit from Heracles, who offered him to rescue his deceased wife as a token of appreciation for Admetus’ hospitality. And indeed the hero managed to persuade Hades, the god of the Underworld, to return Alcestis to her husband unharmed. In 1790 this dramatic event, governed by a great deal of sentiment, was also treated by Peyron’s contemporary Angelika Kauffmann (the painting is now preserved in the Vorarlberg Museum in Bregenz).