French School Of The 19th Century, Oil On Canvas Signed And Dated 1828 "virgil's Sheperd"

- French School, first half of the 19th century; oil on canvas, signed "Julien" and dated 1828, depicting "Virgil’s Shepherd."

- The painting shows a shepherd who appears troubled, his head bowed in a pensive, sorrowful posture. He holds an arrow in his right hand, while on the ground lies a wounded dog, coiled around by a snake—which also appears to be dead. The scene is inspired by a work from the *Appendix Vergiliana* (attributed to Virgil, 1st century BC) titled *Culex* ("The Gnat"): a gnat, seeking to warn a sleeping shepherd of the danger posed by a snake, stings him and thereby saves his life. Startled, the shepherd crushes and kills the insect with a blow from his staff, then promptly kills the snake as well. Later, in his sleep, the shepherd is visited by the specter of the gnat in a dream. The insect laments the shepherd’s ingratitude and describes the Underworld and its mythological torments. Overcome with remorse, the shepherd is left in the state of mind seemingly captured in this painting.

- This iconographic theme appears in the works of other painters, such as Félix Boisselier (1776–1811); his 1808 painting on this subject—now in a private collection—was later adapted in 1821 by the engraver and lithographer Antoine François Gelée (1796–1860). Examples of these engravings can be found in various museums both in France and abroad. at the Thomas Henry Museum in Cherbourg-en-Cotentin, the Harvard Art Museums, the Hood Museum...

- Canvas dimensions: 37 cm x 46 cm

- Ebonized wood frame: 52 cm x 62.5 cm