AGRIPPINA & HER CHILDREN MOURNING OVER THE ASHES OF GERMANICUS

Benjamin West / American, 1738-1820. SN 403, Oil on Canvas, 1773

From:The Pages

ARTIST:
Benjamin West was a renowned American artist who, after a brief career as a portrait painter in Philadelphia and New York, went to Italy in 1760 seeking further training. While in Italy he was influenced by the Englishman Gavin Hamilton and the German Anton Mengs, and developed a neo-classical style. West then made his home in London in 1763, and in spite of (or because of) being an American, became an instant success as a portraitist. In 1768 he became a founding member of the Royal Academy and in 1792 succeeded Sir Joshua Reynolds as its President, a position he held for the next twenty-eight years.

In 1770 he painted his famous history painting, "The Death of General Wolfe", in which the figures are seen in contemporary dress. This was a departure from tradition in historical scenes which was soon followed by other artists. West was in the vanguard of the Romantic Movement and has been hailed as a forerunner of Delacroix. His historical importance, however, outweighs the quality of his work. He was the first American painter to gain an international reputation and he became the prototype of the expatriate artist.

SUBJECT:
Germanicus was the nephew and adopted son of Emperor Tiberius Caesar. As a Roman general, Germanicus won a number of victories in Germany and wished to continue with
his aggressive warfare. Tiberius disagreed, and reassigned Germanicus to the East where he took sick and died in Antioch. All of Rome suspected that Tiberius had had Germanicus poisened. Agrippina, Germanicus' wife, returned to Rome with her three sons. Her third son, Gaius (the smiling boy in the foreground) was to become the notoriously cruel Emperor Caligula (AD12-41).

PAINTING:
This painting is a fine example of what has been called West's "stately mode." Monumental scale elevates the subject from a sentimental episode to a moral statement. Agrippina can be regarded as a secularized Madonna - the religious overtones are deliberate, as was made clear in a preliminary drawing which treats the subject as a variation on the Virgin and Child with the Infant St. John. This masterpiece shows the neo-classic influence that Italian art had exerted on West during his years in Rome. It was exhibited at the Royal Academy, London in 1773, the same year in which it was painted. The story of this military hero who died in the service of his country and the stoic grief of his wife who had accompanied him everywhere was seen as a noble example by the Enlightenment, as against the hedonism of the Rococo.

HISTORIC CONTEXT:
West was active in England during the American Revolution and later during England's wars with Napoleon. He was an outspoken advocate of American liberty, and in later years favored the French under Napoleon. After a visit to Paris in 1802, during which he met both Napoleon and David, he lost the favor and patronage of King George. He continued, however, to be both a popular and successful painter until his death in 1820.