The Pain of Andromache

Jacques-Louis David depicts Andromache mourning over the body of her husband Hector, slain by Achilles in the Trojan War. The grieving widow embodies classical virtue and dignity in the face of tragedy.

David established Neoclassicism as the dominant style of late eighteenth-century France. His severe compositions and moral subjects served both royal and radical patrons. This work demonstrates his early mastery of classical themes. It resides at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris.