The centaur Nessus offered to carry Dejanira, the wife of Hercules, across the river Evenus and then abducted her. Having already crossed the river, Hercules hid in the rocky crags beyond, readying a poisoned arrow to let loose on Nessus.
Gustave Moreau contrasted the centaur's dark skin and muscular strength with Dejanira's pale flesh and graceful, lithe figure. The two figures resemble dancers performing a ballet rather than opponents struggling for sexual conquest. With its jagged mountains, the hazy, mysterious landscape provides an eerie background. Moreau was not interested in presenting detailed information about the setting or its elements; he chose instead to disintegrate forms, allowing them to give way to areas of color that suggest shapes.
The artist intended for Dejanira to belong to a set of pictures representing the changing seasons; the painting's autumnal palette of reds, oranges, browns, dark greens, and creamy whites conveys its other title, Autumn. Moreau described what he had in mind to the painting's first owner:
I have tried to render the harmony that may exist between the world of nature at a certain time of year and certain phases of human life. The centaur seeks to embrace this white and graceful form, which is about to escape him. It is a last gleam, a last smile of nature and life. Winter threatens. Night is coming on. It is autumn.
Our Cards are all printed on 100% cotton tree-free archival paper. All Cards include a recycled kraft envelope in a protective sleeve individually hand wrapped for you. Each card is printed one at a time and hand bound here in Lugano, Switzerland. We ship all over the world via SwissPost. Please allow 5-9 business days for us to make them and 5-7 business days for transit. Art Prints are printed on heavy matte finish German art paper using the finest Canon archival inks. Frame is black natural with a white mattboard and Acrylite glazing.
Wall Murals are printed on 42" matte finish, self-adhesive Kodak PhotoText fabric panels that combine and mount easily on a non textured wall surface. We can custom make to any size, just ask.
Stretched Canvas is stretched by hand over 1.5" thick pine bars and printed on cotton poly matte finish canvas. Each canvas is hand coated with Hahnemuhle UV/Archive coating, these are Swiss quality best in industry canvases.
All our images are digitized from the original negative, printed and assembled in Switzerland to museum standards by our master printer.
All of our products are popular and custom made by hand to order, please allow 2-4 weeks to make them and 1-2 weeks for shipment anywhere in the world.
Questions? Please email service@archivea.com
Artwork in this collection is from The J. Paul Getty Museum. Reproduction rights are reserved by the copyright owner and used under license by Archivea GmbH.
