On-line gallery
- Reference number
- P01661
- Author
- Dyck, Anton van (Flemish); Rubens, Peter Paul (Flemish)
- Title
- Achilles Discovered by Ulysses and Diomedes
- Chronology
- Ca. 1617
- Technique
- Support
- Measures
- 246 cm x 267 cm
- School
- Theme
- Shown
- Yes
- Entrance
- COLECCION REAL
- Procedence
- Royal Collection
According to prophecy, Achilles was
to die in the Trojan War. In order
to avoid this, his mother hid him
in the court of King Lycomedes,
disguised as a woman. There, he
spent time among the king's
daughters, falling in love with
Deidamia.
Ulysses and Diomedes knew about
this scheme and wanted Achilles to
help them fight the war. Disguised
as merchants, they showed certain
presents to the ladies as a way of
giving Achilles away. As they
hoped, the hero gave away his
maleness by showing interest in
weapons rather than jewels and
other female adornments.
Rubens chooses the exact moment
when Ulysses, on the right,
denounces Achilles as he unsheathes
a sword. That is when he calls him
to fight against the Trojans. In
the group on the right, surrounded
by the other ladies, Deidamia
senses the imminent departure of
her beloved.
This work was made by Van Dyck when
he was a disciple of Rubens. The
latter retouched it and it was
offered to the English collector,
Sir Dudly Carleton, who rejected it
because it was not entirely by
Rubens. It was later sent to Spain,
and by 1625 it was in Madrid's
Alcázar Palace.
Location on the map
