Le héron familier

Vincente Capobianchi (Italian, active 1870-80) - Le héron familier, 1877 (Oil on panel) - - The elegantly dressed ladies are reading while enjoying a leisurely afternoon in a lush garden, unaffected by the tempestuous scene of violence and passion carved into the stone below them. Capobianchi has sourced a Roman marble sarcophagus, depicting a battle scene between the Greeks and the Amazons. In the center of the panel, the Amazon Queen Penthesilea expires in the arms of Achilles; he fell in love with her as he was dealing her death blow.