Achilles mourning Patroclus Nikolay Ge (1831-1894)

Description of the painting "Achilles Laments Patroclus" by Nikolai Ge

Nikolai Ge painted "Achilles Mourns Patroclus" in 1855.

In this work he depicted a mythological subject based on Homer’s poem The Iliad. It tells the story of Achilles. The Trojan Hector enlists the help of Apollo to kill Achilles, but Patroclus dies instead, wearing his friend’s armor. The Trojans took the armor as a trophy. Achilles took the loss of his friend so closely that he considered suicide out of grief.

The painting shows the dead Patroclus lying on a wooden bed with pillows on a green coverlet. His body is half-covered by a cloth. A grieving and weeping Achilles leans over him. His grief is vast and inconsolable.

Not far from them stands Phaedita, Achilles’ mother, holding new forged gold armour for her son that Hephaestus forged at her request.

Among the mourners stands the Myrmidonian warrior who has bowed his head and covered his face with a hand so as not to show his tears.

The images in the painting are depicted with incredibly clear portraiture. In each of them, the artist has clearly prescribed not only the features of the face and body, but also every fold of the garment.

The paints for the fabric the artist chose are bright and saturated, which harmonize with each other. But the background itself, on which the scene is depicted, is very dark. It cannot be called dull, because all the furniture of the room has retained the relief clarity of each object. But the very color palette of brown fully corresponds to the drama of the event taking place.

The sculptural interpretation of the images and the clarity of the heroic themes with which the artist approached the rendering of the subject, combined with the vivid colorfulness of the painting, brought the artist a small gold medal.

Today the painting "Achilles Laments Patroclus" is in the Belarusian Art Museum in Minsk.