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Image

RISDM 21-126.tif
RISDM 21-126.tif
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  • RISDM 21-126.tif
  • RISDM 21-126.tif

John Flaxman

Pernicious Dream

Description

Maker

John Flaxman (English, 1755 - 1826)

Title

Pernicious Dream

Year

ca. 1792-1793

Medium

  • Pen and ink with graphite framing lines

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

  • Pen and ink with graphite framing lines

Materials

pen and ink

Dimensions

21.6 x 27.9 cm (8 1/2 x 11 inches)

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Gift of Mrs. Gustav Radeke

Object Number

21.126

Type

  • Drawings and Watercolors

Projects & Publications

Publications

Lit_ID 1697 Old master Drawings 01.tif
  • Books

Old Master Drawings from the Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design

Alt Author: Johnson, Deborah J.

Read Online ›

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

From Dürer to Van Gogh
Gifts from Eliza Greene Radeke and Helen Metcalf Danforth
Jun 05, 2008 – Oct 26, 2008

Label copy

This is one of 39 illustrations for Alexander Pope’s translation of Homer’s Iliad, published in 1793 with engravings after John Flaxman’s designs. The text, “Fly hence deluding Dream! As light as air/ To Agamememnon’s [sic] ample tent repair,” refers to the god Zeus’s sinister decision to send King Agamemnon a false dream and incite battle between the Greeks and Trojans, a battle that Agamemnon’s Greeks would surely lose, or so Zeus thought. Flaxman combines the scene of Zeus on his heavenly throne with the sleeping Agamemnon.

Old Master Drawings
Sep 02, 1983 – Oct 16, 1983
The Age of Canova
Nov 06, 1957 – Dec 15, 1957

Use & Feedback

Image use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use.

This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

John Flaxman (English, 1755 - 1826)
Pernicious Dream, ca. 1792-1793
Pen and ink with graphite framing lines
21.6 x 27.9 cm (8 1/2 x 11 inches)
Gift of Mrs. Gustav Radeke 21.126

To request new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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