Where to See Oedipus and the Sphinx in New York

Finished in 1864 by Gustave Moreau, dramatic encounter between Oedipus and the Sphinx in 1864. The hero confronts the monster on a rocky ledge, their eyes locked in intellectual combat. The Sphinx clings to Oedipus with disturbing intimacy while he remains calm, about to solve her riddle. Bodies of failed challengers lie below.

This monumental canvas (206 × 105 cm) established Moreau's reputation for Symbolist mythological subjects. His jewel-like colors and psychological intensity influenced later artists. Now at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

This major work is at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. The Met has excellent holdings of 19th-century European art including Symbolist paintings.

The painting depicts Oedipus answering the Sphinx's riddle: What walks on four legs, then two, then three? (Answer: man). Moreau shows the tense moment before Oedipus defeats the monster with his intellect.

Moreau pioneered Symbolist painting with richly detailed mythological and biblical subjects. His jeweled colors and psychological intensity influenced the Surrealists and later fantasy artists.

Oedipus and the Sphinx

Details

Where to See It

The Artist

Cite or Embed This Work

More by Gustave Moreau

Portrait of Degas in Florence

Degas portrait in the Uffizi

Horseman

Abduction of the Young Venetian Woman by Cypriot Pirates

Also at The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Rolltop desk

Lion felling a bull, from a marble pediment

Marble statue of a lion

Supper at Emmaus

Jupiter and Semele

The Chimera

The Daughters of Thespius

Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I

Death and Life

The Three Ages of Woman

Death and the Maidens

Adam and Eve

Study for The Temptation of St. Anthony

Lemminkäinen's Mother

Sir Galahad

Lady Margaret Beaumont and her Daughter

About Oedipus and the Sphinx

Own Art Like This