Pietro da Cortona, Pittoni, and the Plight of Polyxena

Pietro da Cortona's reputation in Rome around 1625 was established by his painting of the Sacrifice of Polyxena. A century later Giambattista Pittoni produced an extremely successful series of works illustrating the same subject. The story of the death of the Trojan princess Polyxena at the tomb of Achilles was difficult to harmonize with the ideals and prejudices of Renaissance and post-Renaissance times, and it was not frequently represented. But these two artists, drawing on a variety of narratives from classical literature, were able to construe it as an expression of cultural values of their respective centuries.