Tuesday, October 23, 2012

The battle of the Lapiths and Centaurs

The battle of the Lapiths and centaurs appears many times in ancient arts. The story is recounted in Book XII of the Metamorphoses.

Ovid related how the centaurs, invited the Lapith Pirithous to his wedding feasts. They then become inflamed by wine.

The centaurs are best known for their fight with Lapithae, caused by attempt to carry off Pirithous’s bride Hippodamia, and the rest of the Lapith women on the day of her marriage to Pirithous, king of the Lapithae. 

The description of the ensuing fight constitute one of the most detailed and vivid in Ovid’s text. The struggles between the Lapiths and centaurs thus take up of the space in the painting.

Sebastiano Ricci helped to revitalize Venetian art at the beginning of the eighteenth century by adopting the luminous, richly colored style of Paolo Veronese and making it looser and more spontaneous, as seen in this painting.
The battle of the Lapiths and Centaurs
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