Priamus vraagt aan Achilles het lichaam van Hector 1870

Wilhelmus Petrus van Geldorp made this drawing of Priam asking Achilles for Hector's body sometime in the 19th century. The image represents a powerful and politically charged moment from Homer's Iliad. It offers a commentary on leadership, morality, and the rules of war and hospitality. The scene depicts King Priam of Troy kneeling before Achilles, the Greek hero who killed his son, Hector, begging for his son’s body so he can give him a proper burial. Made in the Netherlands, this work can be understood in the context of 19th-century classicism. This was a time of renewed interest in the art and literature of ancient Greece and Rome and a period in which artists mined classical history for lessons for their own time. Here we see a work that uses the visual language of classicism to promote the timeless virtues of empathy and compassion in the face of war and political division. To understand this work better, one might consult collections of classical literature, museum archives, and studies in the history of political theory. Doing so would help us better appreciate how this artist used the past to comment on the social and political issues of his own time.