Ismene and Antogone Plead with Theseus 1790s

Nicolai Abildgaard painted this oil on canvas depicting ‘Ismene and Antigone Plead with Theseus’. It illustrates a scene from classical mythology as filtered through the lens of late 18th century Europe. Abildgaard was a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen. As such, he was helping to define a canon of appropriate subjects and styles for young artists. This picture, with its emphasis on the heroic male nude, its theatrical composition and its subject of pleading women, speaks to the art politics of its time. It presents a vision of art that is both edifying and emotionally stirring. The work also speaks to the progressive social thinking of its time, in which the role of women in the public sphere was being widely debated. Art historians study the painting through an investigation of the archives of the Academy, the published writings of its professors, and the social and political context of late 18th century Denmark.