Circle of Nicolai Abraham Abildgaard, Danish 1743-1809- Orpheus... Lot 149

Circle of Nicolai Abraham Abildgaard, Danish 1743-1809- Orpheus and Eurydice; oil on canvas, 64.8 x 54.9 cm. Provenance: Property from a European Private Collection. Note: Abildgaard often depicted scenes from Classical mythology and literature, with highly muscular figures lit by a dramatic chiaroscuro, typically in a swirling, circular composition. Abilgaard's style was shaped by his travels to Rome, where he studied the work of artists such as Annibale Carracci (1560-1609) and Michelangelo (1475-1564), and where he met Henry Fuseli (1741-1825). Fuseli's influence on Abildgaard was immense, and can be seen particularly in the somewhat grotesque, nightmarish figures which occupy many of his scenes, of which the demons in the present painting are highly reminiscent. The pose of the central figures, with Orpheus clasping Eurydice to his chest, is almost identical to that in Abilgaard's painting of 'Catullus and Lesbia' which is now held in the Nivaagaard Collection in Denmark [0194NMK].