c. 1758-1764

Achilles among the Daughters of Lycomedes

American, 1743 - 1812

Henry Benbridge's scene, which derives from the Greek epic tradition on the Trojan War, is one of the most baroque compositions painted in the Delaware Valley during the eighteenth century. The painting is a copy, in reverse, of a tapestry design by Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, 1577-1640). In the painting, Achilles has been disguised as a woman and hidden among the daughters of King Lycomedes at the behest of his mother, who knows that he is fated to die if he goes to Troy. Achilles betrays himself by showing too much interest in a helmet and becomes one of Greece's great warriors.