Chimera
Medium
Enamel on copper
Dimensions
Diam.: 34 cm (13 7/16 in.); D.: 3.9 cm (1 1/2 in.)
Classification
enamel
Department
Painting and Sculpture of Europe
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
272685
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
This sumptuously colored, circular plaque depicts a chimera, a mythical hybrid of multiple animals, launching into the air from a rocky precipice with a nude woman clinging to him. It is the earliest and largest surviving product of the five-year collaboration between painter Gustave Moreau and enameler Frédéric Charlot de Courcy. In enamel painting, vitreous powders are mixed with a volatile oil, painted onto a metal support, and fired in a kiln. Artists, collectors, and critics admired the mat...