Phrine at the Festival of Poseidon at Eleusis
1889
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Location in museum
The Mikhailovsky Palace
Open the panorama of the hall in the virtual tour
Room 21 - Period Late 19th century
- CategoryMythological Subject
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Henryk Siemiradzki is famous in the history of Russian and European art as a singer of antiquity. His outstanding painterly mastery and profound knowledge of ancient archaeology won him many followers. The subject of this canvas is taken from ancient Greek history. Famed for her beauty, the hetaera Phrine was the favourite model of Praxiteles. Here she imitates Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty and love, at one of the Eleusinia festivals. To the delight of onlookers, Phrine strips off her clothes, descends the steps and plunges into the water. The scene is constructed in the manner of a theatrical action played out against a magnificent background of southern nature flooded with sunlight. Russian Museum: From Icons to the Modern Times. Palace Editions, St Petersburg, 2015. P. 185.