Sappho's Death
Item
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Title
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Sappho's Death
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Rights
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The Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois. Public domain.
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Creator
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Honoré-Victorin Daumier (1808-1879)
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Date
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1843
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Description
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An illustration of Sappho being pushed off of the Leucadian cliff by cupid, connecting to the famous tale and play of her leaping from the cliff of Leucas after her rejection from Phaon in their love affair. The horizon of the sea is visible at the lower portion of the illustration with the cliff’s edge in the bottom right corner. Sappho leans partly back on Cupid as he holds her by the top of her outer thighs and uses his body to push her lower half further. Her hair is down. Rather than a more romantic or aesthetically pleasing style of art she is usually depicted in, her facial features are more jagged, her nose intentionally large and hooked, and her hair is messy. She wears a plain robe that cinches at the waist and only exposes her ankles, feet, and arms. A piece of fabric protrudes from her shoulders behind her hair and waves in the wind. Cupid is bare and his height only reaches below her waist. He appears to have an object hanging behind his back. The illustration is framed by blank space on the paper with handwriting in the bottom right corner, it says: “Sappho’s Death” with “Young ladies, you see where love leads us Under our feet so dainty and small The wretched chasm of an abyss Into which we eventually fall.” below it (translated from French).
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Format
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Lithograph on ivory woven paper. 14 3/16 × 10 7/8 in.
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Language
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French
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Publisher
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The Art Institute of Chicago.
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Contributor
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Shenai Beyale
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Identifier
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The Art Institute of Chicago. 1948.406.
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Subject
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Sappho; death; poem; tragedy; Leucas; Leucadian cliff; Phaon; cupid
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Source
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Jpg file. The Art Institute of Chicago. 11/9/2025. https://www.artic.edu/artworks/63486/sappho-s-death-young-ladies-you-see-where-love-leads-us-under-our-feet-so-dainty-and-small-the-wretched-chasm-of-an-abyss-into-which-we-eventually-fall-plate-49-from-histoire-ancienne
Sappho's Death