Aeneas in the Elysian Fields (recto); Sketches of Groups of Figures (verso) n.d.

Raymond de Lafage sketched Aeneas in the Elysian Fields with pen and brown ink, likely in France during the late 17th century. The image depicts a scene from Virgil's Aeneid, where Aeneas, guided by the Sibyl, journeys to the underworld. What might this scene have meant to viewers at the time? Consider the reign of Louis XIV and the consolidation of royal power. Virgil’s epic was often read as a political allegory, with Aeneas as a proto-ruler, guided by destiny to found Rome. Lafage’s work could be seen as subtly reinforcing the idea of divinely sanctioned rule, a key element of the French monarchy's self-image. For those interested in tracing the social meanings of art, comparing Lafage's interpretation with earlier or later depictions of the same scene would give us a clearer idea of the politics of imagery during his time.