How does Phaedra (Cabanel) elucidate its Subject?
The subject of the work was brought on by Cabanel's affiliation with literature, an infatuation that began with the Paris École des Beaux-Arts. Cabanel spent time at the school as a student and teacher, where he was exposed to classical works of literature, as well as important French writers of the past centuries. Cabanel would have studied Euripides' Hippolytus, written in 429 BCE, a play that details Phaedra's love and betrayal of her stepson, Hippolytus, who denies his stepmother's love. In her sorrow, Phaedra hangs herself, but leaves a suicide note of sorts calling Hippolytus her seducer. Theseus, her husband, banishes and ultimately kills his son, although the truth is revealed and their relationship reconciled before Hippolytus finally dies. However, a more recent version of the subject had been written by Racine in 1677, and was performed and celebrated during Cabanel's life. Sylvain Amic suggests that, because of the contemporary attention to the play, Cabanel was likely trying to revive an interest in antiquity among the rapidly progressing art that rejected traditional subjects. In fact, the Salon program's description of Phaedra contained an excerpt from Euripides' classical play: “Consumed with love's sorrow, Phaedra has locked herself in her palace. A delicate veil covers her head. This is the third day she has gone without food as she is intent on ending her wretched existence.” This reference to antiquity was Cabanel's way of stating his own intelligence, while attempting to reach a larger group with the academic reminder of the subject's origins in antiquity. This excerpt also places Cabanel's Phaedra in a weakened and emotional moment, showing the artist's innovation in contrast to the often heroic and instructive works of the Academy. Further, Cabanel tended to progress his works according to people's tastes. While opposed to the anti-academic modes of painting, Cabanel was able to accept certain changes within the painting world, attempting to use the progression as a way of circling contemporary thoughts back to the classical subjects accepted by the Academy. Phaedra can be understood as another way that the artist tried to assimilate his own artistic ideals with a developing artistic age.
Phaedra École des Beaux-Arts Hippolytus Racine Salon