Title: Achilles Lamenting the Death of Patroclus Artist: Gavin Hamilton (Scottish, 1723-1798) Date: 1763 Genre: mythological art Movement: Neoclassicism Medium: oil on canvas Location: National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
This is the second of six canvases depicting scenes from the Trojan War that Gavin Hamilton, Scotland's most important Neoclassical artist, painted during a stay in Rome in 1763. Before entering the collection of the National Galleries of Scotland, it was in the possession of Hamilton's patron James Grant of Castle Grant, Speyside.
The scene centers on the body of Patroclus, to which the eye is immediately drawn by its pale nakedness (Hector had stripped the slain hero of Achilles' armor). Achilles himself grasps the corpse in anguish. Hamilton has divided the onlookers by gender: to the left, Briseis and other women mourn; to the right, the Achaean leaders try in vain to console Achilles.
