Aeneas Saving Anchises at the Fall of Troy (1587–88): Art, History and Details

Aeneas Saving Anchises at the Fall of Troy (1587–88) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Federico Barocci (Italian, 1528–1612).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

In book two of Virgil's epic poem The Aeneid (29-19 BC), the Trojan hero Aeneas escapes from the burning city of Troy and its Greek invaders with his family. Here the artist shows them making their way through a classical corridor. Aeneas carries his elderly father, Anchises, entrusted with holding their household gods. Aeneas holds the hand of his son, Ascanius, and his wife Creusa follows behind. Creusa's separation from the group alludes to her fate: she will fall behind and not survive their flight. Quick sketches on the right border of the sheet show Barocci practicing the balancing pose of Aeneas as he carries his father, and the stance of Creusa. The drawing relates to a now lost painting by Barocci and was also made into an engraving by Agostino Carracci (see CMA 1963.456). Details in the drawing such as the dog bounding down the stairs and Creusa's flowing hair and head scarf do not appear in the engraving.

Object facts

• Title: Aeneas Saving Anchises at the Fall of Troy
• Date: 1587–88
• Creator attribution: Federico Barocci (Italian, 1528–1612)
• Culture: Italy
• Type: Drawing
• Technique: Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash and yellow gouache heightened with traces of white, over black chalk, with stylus (banister); framing lines in pen and brown ink
• Dimensions: Sheet: 27.7 x 42.6 cm (10 7/8 x 16 3/4 in.)
• Collection: DR - Italian
• Department: Drawings
• Accession number: 1960.26

A detail from the museum

This drawing may have been once owned by the painter Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640).

Collection credit

L. E. Holden Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• "Year in Review 1960." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 47, no. 72 (December 1960).
• Cleveland Museum of Art, “Two Italian Drawings,” October 25, 1960, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives.
• Richards, Louise. "Federico Barocci: A Study for Aeneas' Flight from Troy." Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 48 (April 1961): 63-65.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.