Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640), ‘Thetis Dipping the Infant Achilles into the River Styx&
Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640), ‘Thetis Dipping the Infant Achilles into the River Styx’, 1630-35“Rubens here depicts the scene in which the sea nymph Thetis dips her son Achilles in the Styx, the river of the underworld. In this way, Thetis wanted to make her son immortal, after an oracle had told her that he would die young in battle. While she dipped him in the water, she held on to him by his foot. Because of this, this area, the proverbial Achilles heel, proved his vulnerable spot. He would ultimately be killed by a poisoned arrow entering his heel.”Source: http://collectie.boijmans.nl/en/object/2593/Thetis-Dipping-the-Infant-Achilles-into-the-River-Styx/Peter-Paul-Rubens“… recounts the myth of Achilles, whose mother, the sea nymph Thetis, was warned by an oracle that her son would die young. Desperate for his immortality, Thetis plunged Achilles headfirst into the river Styx, holding onto his heel. This undipped spot – the Achilles heel – left him vulnerable and mortal.The torch is brandished by one of the three Fates, Lachesis; by most accounts she determines one’s destiny, which surely unfolds here for Achilles. Cerberus, the three headed dog who oversaw the entrance to Hades, is barely visible in the foreground, while in the distance is Charon, the ferryman transporting the newly deceased to Hades. At the top of the painting is a cartouche shaped like a bat on a dog’s paws from which hangs toadstools and pomegranates, attributes of Prosperine, a diety of Hades.”Source: http://www.themasterpiececards.com/famous-paintings-reviewed/topic/peter-paul-rubens -- source link
#flemish artists#flemish painters#thetis#achilles#river styx#greek myth#greek mythology#lachesis#three fates