hildegardavon:William Henry Rinehart, 1825-1874Antigone pouring a libation over the corpse of ger br
hildegardavon:William Henry Rinehart, 1825-1874Antigone pouring a libation over the corpse of ger brother Polynices, ca.1867-70, marble, 178,4x61x100,3 cmThe Metropolitan Museum of Art Inv. 91.4Rinehart’s sculpture represents a climactic scene from Sophocles’s tragedy, “Antigone,” written in or before 442 B.C. Antigone’s brother, Polynices, was killed by Eteokles, and then denied a proper burial because he was considered an enemy of Thebes. Against the orders of the new ruler, Creon, Antigone courageously interred Polynices. Rinehart chose to depict the moment when she pours libations over her brother’s grave, thereby stressing to the viewer the importance of fighting against tyranny for one’s civil liberties. Of all Rinehart’s sculptures, Antigone may be the most closely related to antique prototypes, showing an affinity with a draped figure once in the Vescovali collection in Rome. -- source link