| The Return of Marcus Sextus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | Pierre-Narcisse Guérin |
| Year | 1799 |
| Type | Oil on canvas,history painting |
| Dimensions | 217 cm × 243 cm (85 in × 96 in) |
| Location | Louvre,Paris |
The Return of Marcus Sextus (French:Le Retour de Marcus Sextus) is an oil on canvashistory painting by the FrenchartistPierre-Narcisse Guérin, from 1799.[1][2][3]
The painting depicts the fictionalRomangeneral Marcus Sextus, who had been banished during the rule ofSulla. After Sulla's fall, he returned to Rome to find his wife dead. It was originally intended to feature the figure ofBelisarius, but Guérin altered it. The painting shows Marcus Sextus in a gloomy room, silent and stil, visibly heartbroken, in front of the bed where his dead wife is lying, holding one of her hands. Her daughter grabs his leg, in mourning. His wife lies, pale, in bed, with one of her breats exposed.[4]
It appears to have served as anallegory for the situation in theFrench Republic, following theReign of Terror, with Sulla representingMaximilien Robespierre, and Marcus Sextus the Frenchémigrés who were returning to the country under the more moderale rule of theDirectorate.[5] The painting was exhibited at theSalon of 1799. Today it is in the collection of theLouvre, inParis, having been acquired in 1830.[6]
Madame De Stäel wrote about this painting in her novelDelphine (1802).
