Combat between Menelaus and Paris
circa 1740
Charles Le Brun, the premier artist for King Louis XIV, designed this chaotic battle scene from the Trojan War. It captures the duel between Menelaus and Paris, with rearing horses and clashing spears creating a whirlwind of action. A goddess in flowing blue and white robes hovers above the fray, seemingly intervening in the fight. Le Brun's dynamic Baroque style was so influential that his designs were woven into massive tapestries for decades after his death, bringing mythological drama to the walls of French palaces.
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