Apollo and Hyacinthus

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Hyacinthus is laying on the ground with his head rested on Apollo's left thigh. Apollo is distressed using his left hand to cover his face. Flowers surround Hyacinthus and a lyre lays next to both men.

Full description

This painting depicts the unfortunate death of Hyacinthus. Hyacinthus was a Spartan Prince and the lover of Apollo. Hyacinthus was one of the most beautiful men on Earth, so beautfiul that he caught the eyes of another deity, Zephyrus, the God of the West wind. When Apollo and Hyacinthus were throwing a discus back and forth Zephyrus decided to kill Hyacinthus and redirect the discus that Apollo threw and have it strike Hyacinthus in the head. Once Apollo saw what happened he rushed to Hyacinthus, but was unable to revive him. The blood that came from Hycanithus would sprout hyacinths on whatever ground it fell on.

Nicolas-René Jollain (1732-1804), 1769

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  • type
    Image
  • created on
  • file format
    jpeg
  • file size
    238 KB
  • creator
    Nicolas-René Jollain
  • publisher place
    Versaillles, France