Artwork
Orpheus Lamenting Eurydice
Orpheus Lamenting Eurydice is an oil painting by the Realist artist Jean Baptiste Camille Corot. It dates from 1861 and is held in the collection of the Kimbell Art Museum.
About this work
Overview
Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot painted *Orpheus Lamenting Eurydice* in 1861. Executed in oil, the work belongs to Corot’s later period when he combined classical composition with a more naturalistic approach. The canvas is part of the permanent collection of the Kimbell Art Museum.
Subject & Meaning
The composition centers on the mythic musician Orpheus, shown in a moment of sorrow after the loss of his wife Eurydice. He stands in a long robe with his arms raised, conveying grief. Two women sit nearby, and a partially hidden figure suggests the presence of other mourners, reinforcing the theme of lament.
Technique & Style
Corot employs a restrained palette of soft, muted tones and delicate brushwork that lend the scene a tranquil atmosphere. The landscape is rendered with a realistic eye, yet the handling of light and color hints at the plein‑air sensibility that characterized his later work.
History & Provenance
Since its creation, the painting has remained in private and institutional hands before entering the Kimbell Art Museum’s collection, where it is displayed as part of the museum’s European painting holdings.
Artist & collection
Artist
Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot (UK: KORR-oh, US: kə-ROH, kor-OH; French: ; 16 July 1796 – 22 February 1875), or simply Camille Corot, was a French landscape and portrait painter as well as a printmaker in etching.
