Candaules, King of Lydia, Shews his Wife by Stealth to Gyges, One of his Ministers, as She Goes to Bed
Candaules, King of Lydia, Shews his Wife by Stealth to Gyges, One of his Ministers, as She Goes to Bed, is a 45. 1 by 55. 9 cm oil painting on canvas by English artist William Etty. It shows a scene from the Histories by Herodotus, in which Candaules invites his bodyguard Gyges to hide in the couple’s bedroom and watch his wife Nyssia undress. Etty hoped that his audience would take from the painting the moral lesson that women are not chattels and that men infringing on their rights should justly be punished. The painting was immediately controversial and perceived as a cynical combination of a pornographic image and a violent and unpleasant narrative.
About Candaules, King of Lydia, Shews his Wife by Stealth to Gyges, One of his Ministers, as She Goes to Bed in brief
Candaules, King of Lydia, Shews his Wife by Stealth to Gyges, One of his Ministers, as She Goes to Bed, is a 45. 1 by 55. 9 cm oil painting on canvas by English artist William Etty. It shows a scene from the Histories by Herodotus, in which Candaules invites his bodyguard Gyges to hide in the couple’s bedroom and watch his wife Nyssia undress. Etty hoped that his audience would take from the painting the moral lesson that women are not chattels and that men infringing on their rights should justly be punished. The painting was immediately controversial and perceived as a cynical combination of a pornographic image and a violent and unpleasant narrative, and it was condemned as an immoral piece of the type one would expect from a foreign, not a British, artist. It was bought by Robert Vernon on its exhibition, and in 1847 was one of a number of paintings given by Vernon to the nation. The work retained its controversial reputation in later years, and when The Art Journal bought the reproduction rights to Vernon’s former collection in 1849 they did not distribute reproductions of Candaule. In 1929 it was among several paintings transferred to the newly expanded Tate Gallery, where as of 2018 it remains.
The Delphic Oracle confirmed Gyges as the first king of the Mermnad dynasty, and he reigned for 38 years until he was confirmed as the Oracle’s successor as king of Lydia. The next day he was given the choice of killing his master, or of accepting his own execution to save his own life; he chose to kill his master and take his place as king. In 1821 he finally achieved recognition when the Royal Academy accepted and exhibited one of his works, The Arrival of Cleopatra in Cilicia. Between 1820 and 1829 Etty exhibited 15 paintings, of which 14 depicted nude figures. He was the first British artist to specialise in nude studies, and although his portraits of male nudes were generally well received, many critics condemned his repeated depictions of female nudity as indecent. After his death in 1828 he was elected a full Royal Academician in 1829, beating John Constable to the position. He remained silent for the rest of the day, but remained in the Tate Gallery until the end of the year.
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