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Oedipus and the Sphinx is a painting by the French Neoclassical artist Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres. Originally a student work painted in 1808, it was enlarged and completed in 1827. The painting depicts Oedipus explaining the riddle of the Sphinx. An oil painting on canvas, it measures 189 x 144 cm, and is in the Louvre, which acquired it in 1878. ==History== The painting was begun in Rome, where Ingres had arrived belatedly in 1806 after winning the ''Grand Prix de Rome'' in 1801. Working in a studio on the grounds of the Villa Medici, Ingres continued his studies and, as required of every winner of the ''Prix'', he sent works at regular intervals to Paris so his progress could be judged. As his ''envoi'' of 1808 Ingres sent a life-size ''Figure of Oedipus'' and ''The Valpinçon Bather'', hoping by these two paintings to demonstrate his mastery of the male and female nude.〔Condon et al. 1983, p. 38.〕 The academicians were moderately critical of the treatment of light in both paintings, and considered the figures to be insufficiently idealized.〔Tinterow, Conisbee et al. 1999, pp 98–101.〕 Afterwards, Ingres retained the ''Figure of Oedipus'' in his studio for years. Around 1825 he decided to rework it to turn what was essentially a figure study into a more developed narrative scene.〔Radius 1968, p. 91.〕 He enlarged the canvas, adding 20 cm to the left edge, 31 cm to the top, and 31 cm to the right.〔 Within the expanded picture space he created a dramatic contrast between the brightly illuminated landscape seen in the distance, and the shadows that envelop the Sphinx.〔 Ingres modified the pose of the Sphinx and added the human remains seen in the lower left corner.〔 The fleeing man seen at the right, whose attitude and expression reveal Ingres' study of Poussin, was also added at this time.〔 In November 1827 Ingres exhibited the finished work, along with two portraits, in the Salon, where they were well received.〔Mongan & Naef 1967, p. xxi.〕 The painting is signed and dated 1808 at the lower left. Ingres sold ''Oedipus and the Sphinx'' in 1829, and it entered the Louvre in 1878.〔 A small oil sketch in which Ingres tested his composition before reworking the painting is in the National Gallery, London.〔 It was once owned by Edgar Degas, who purchased it in 1897 or earlier.〔Dumas & Degas 1996, p.71.〕 In 1864 Ingres painted a third version of ''Oedipus and the Sphinx'', smaller than the first version, which reverses the composition and varies many details. It is in the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, Maryland.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Oedipus and the Sphinx (Ingres)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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