Flemish Oil On Canvas "the Death Of Créuse" By Gérard Hoet, Circa 1700

Attributed to Ottmar Elliger around 1700 or to Gérard Hoet the Elder Creusa poisoned by Medea's shirt and diadem Oil on canvas, 55 x 70 cm Formerly identified as representing Octavius going to Cleopatra to take her captive to Rome, and discovering her on her deathbed, this painting was initially attributed to Ottmar Elliger (around 1700), then also to Gérard Hoet known as "the Elder". A more refined iconographic rereading, however, allows us to propose a more convincing interpretation: the scene actually illustrates the tragic episode of Creusa, Jason's fiancée, poisoned by Medea, who offered her a tunic and diadem soaked in venom. The moment captured on the canvas intensely represents the drama of the betrayal of love and the vengeful cruelty of the sorceress. The subtle palette, the refined treatment of the draperies, and the architecture in the background, as well as the expressive gestures of the figures, place this work in the vein of late Dutch classicism influenced by Italy, typical of the circle of Ottmar Elliger or Gérard Hoet, both active between The Hague and Utrecht at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries. The work is framed in a beautiful Louis XIV gold leaf frame. Preparatory canvas preserved at the Tours City Museum, inventory number: MNR 344; D 1958.4.2 on loan at the Louvre Museum Selected bibliography: • Lesné, Claude; Roquebert, Anne, Catalogue des peintures MNR, Paris, RMN, 2004, p. 38, ill. b&w. • Brejon de Lavergnée, Arnauld; Thiébaut, Dominique, Catalogue résumé illustré des peintures du musée du Louvre. II. Italy, Spain, Germany, Great Britain and various, Paris, RMN, 1981, p. 48. • Lossky, Boris, Tours, Museum of Fine Arts. 18th-century paintings. Inventory of French public collections, no. 7, Paris, Éditions des musées nationaux, 1962, notice no. 193.