Jean-Joseph Taillasson, 'Virgil reading the Aeneid to Augustus and Octavia', 1787

The subject of this picture is from the Life of Virgil by Tiberius Claudius Donatus (active about AD 400). The poet Virgil is reading the closing lines of Book VI of his epic poem the Aeneid to the Emperor Augustus and his sister Octavia. Augustus, in profile and crowned with laurel, leans forward in his throne which bears the Roman eagle.

Virgil reads his work aloud from a scroll on which the words of the text are legible. He describes Aeneas’ journey into the underworld, where the Trojan hero meets great Romans from the future. Among them is a young man with a shadow hanging over his head, who turns out to be Octavia’s recently deceased son Marcellus, causing her to clutch her heart and faint. Virgil’s hand, presumably raised for recital, is extended in concern towards Octavia. The lighting emphasises his gesture and draws attention to the emotions of his audience. A female attendant rushes to Octavia’s aid, while a young soldier, possibly one of Marcellus’ former comrades, clasps his hands and gazes upwards in anguish. Virgil’s patron, Maecenas, looks concerned that the performance has caused such distress.

This was an unusual subject in art of the period, bringing together Taillasson’s interests in classical history, antique art, theatrical performance and the power of art and literature to move the emotions. The painting aroused considerable interest when it was exhibited at the 1787 Salon.

Taillasson has arranged the figures before an architectural backdrop, like actors on a stage. He has used the architecture to pace the composition, grouping figures and adding symbolic commentary on the action. The tiled pattern on the floor draws attention to the main figures by forming lines to their feet. The arch and column draw attention to Virgil and his patron, while the hanging drapery links the group of Augustus, Octavia and her attendant. The detailed treatment of architecture, costume and furniture demonstrates Taillasson’s concern for archaeological accuracy. The principal figures in the painting are all derived from classical sculptures. The size of the painting, meticulous detail and fine polished surface are characteristic of Taillasson’s work. The X-ray images of the picture suggests that he painted it over a discarded larger composition.

There is a pen and brown ink drawing by an unknown artist of Virgil reading the Aeneid in the Louvre, Paris, which appears to be connected to our painting, but it is stylistically unlike other known drawings by Taillasson.

Virgil reading the Aeneid (Virgile lisant l’Eneide) by Ingres, of 1812 (Musée des Augustins, Toulouse) may have been inspired by this picture, as the first recorded owner of the our painting was Duclos-Dufresnoy, the uncle of Charles-Marie Marcotte d’Argenteuil, one of the artist’s most important patrons.