Hector's Farewell to Andromache

Gavin Hamilton (1723 - 1798)

Hunterian Art Gallery

1775

This is the last of a series of six paintings illustrating Homer's Iliad, often considered Hamilton's greatest achievement, executed in a neo-Poussinesque style. It has been argued that Hamilton's Iliad is based on Alexander Pope's translation of Homer and is influenced by Aristotle's definition of tragedy in his Poetics. Also noteworthy is Hamilton's deliberate choice of the Doric column, a Grecian and not a Roman order, for the temple in the background. A contemporary praised Hamilton's history paintings for preserving a notable 'propriety with regard to costume, and a dignity of manner'.

• Medium: oil on canvas
• Dimensions: 315 x 399 cm
• Art Fund Grant: £3413 ( Total: £30,000)
• ArtFunded in: 1986
• Vendor: Trustees of the Hamilton and Kinneil Estates

Provenance

8th Duke of Hamilton in Rome. Hamilton and Kinneil Estates.

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