Jupiter and Semele
1894–1895 · Oil on canvas · Musée Gustave Moreau, Paris
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About this work
- Artist
- Gustave Moreau (1826–1898)
- Year
- 1894–1895
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Original size
- 213 × 118 cm
- Collection
- Musée Gustave Moreau, Paris
- Movement
- Symbolism
Jupiter sits enthroned at the centre of a towering, jewel-coloured architecture of columns, flowers and carved figures, a halo of red rays behind his head, while the pale body of Semele falls back across his knee. Below the throne a dark winged figure, a mourning Pan and a crowd of strange gods and monsters fill the lower half, set against a deep blue starry sky. In the myth Semele asked to see the god in his full splendour and was destroyed by his lightning. Moreau painted it in 1894–95, and it hangs in the Musée Gustave Moreau in Paris, the house he left to the State.
This exhibition-poster edition shows the whole work beneath original typography set in-house. The original is in the public domain.
Where it works
Dense jewel colours against a midnight-blue sky give this tall, crowded picture the presence of an altarpiece, best on a dark wall in a living room or library. Pair it with Blake's The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed with the Sun at 16×24 in a black frame.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- Exhibition poster of a Symbolism painting
- Era
- 19th century (1894–1895)
- Orientation
- Portrait
- Palette
- cream & beige
- Mood
- grand
- Rooms
- living room, study or library, dining room, hallway or entryway
- Good gift for
- housewarming, art lovers
Size. We'd hang this one at 16×24. Prints at 12×18, 16×24, 24×36 in — 12×18 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 16×24 above a desk, console or in a hallway; 24×36 as the statement piece above a sofa or bed.
Framing. Exhibition posters sit best in a slim black frame with no mat — the typeset margin is the mat.
Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).
Details & materials
Shipping & returns
Is this the whole painting, or a crop?
Is Jupiter and Semele in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was Jupiter and Semele painted, and in what medium?
What size works above a sofa or bed?
About this design
The Madten promise
A fine-art print
The same artwork as a clean fine-art print — the image shown large with a minimal caption.
