The Chosen Five
| The Chosen Five | |
|---|---|
| Artist | Edwin Long |
| Year | 1885 |
| Type | Oil on canvas, history painting |
| Dimensions | 149 cm × 240 cm (59 in × 94 in) |
| Location | Russel-Cotes Art Gallery, Bournemouth |
The Chosen Five is an 1885 history painting by the British artist Edwin Long. It depicts a scene from Ancient Greece. The celebrated artist Zeuxis, working on a painting of Helen of Troy, has selected five beautiful young woman from Crotone so that he can use a composite of them to create the ideal depiction. The five models now pose in his studio. [1]. It was produced with a companion piece The Search for Beauty depicting Zeuxis searching for the most beautiful woman to feature in the work.[2]
The two paintings were exhibited at the French Gallery in London's Bond Street in 1885. [3] The Chosen Five was acquired by the art collector Merton Russell-Cotes.[4] It was donated to the Russel-Cotes Art Gallery in Bournemouth in 1921. [5]
The subject had previously been depicted by the French Neoclassical painter François-André Vincent in his 1789 work Zeuxis Choosing the Most Beautiful Women from Croton as His Models.[6]
References
- ^ https://russellcotes.com/collection-piece/the-chosen-five/
- ^ Smith p.200
- ^ Smith p.203
- ^ Smith p.202
- ^ https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/the-chosen-five-58651
- ^ Marvin p.50
Bibliography
- Marvin, Miranda. The Language of the Muses: The Dialogue Between Roman and Greek Sculpture. Getty Publications, 2008.
- Smith, Alison. The Victorian Nude: Sexuality, Morality and Art. Manchester University Press, 1996.