The Wounded Philoctetes

Tremendous force, energy and piercing pain infuse Abild¬gaard’s depiction of the wound¬ed Greek hero Philoctetes. He was travelling to Troy with a contingent of Greek soldiers, but was bitten by a snake and left behind on the island of Lemnos, screaming. The Greeks eventually return¬ed for Philoctetes, as he was the owner of Heracles’ bow, which always hit its target. Abildgaard, who created this painting in Rome, wished to demonstrate his standpoint in the ongoing international debate on the idioms and devices of art. He favoured strong expression in art. At the same time he wished to show the professors at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen his skill, proving that he was qualified to create art for the Christiansborg Palace. The painting won great acclaim, but must also have seemed shocking at the time.