Jeniffer Sams-Harrison

Art History - Technical Communication

Fall 2009
Orestes Pursued by the Furies
1

Formal Analysis of Orestes Pursued by the Furies in Accordance with Art Criticism

The purpose of this paper is the formal analysis of the painting Orestes Pursued by the

Furies painted by William-Adolphe Bouguereau in 1862. The painting measuring 91 x 109 3/8

inches is oil on canvas painting created in a classical style. Orestes Pursued by the Furies is

based on the myth of Orestes, the only son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. In the Greek

mythology the Furies: Tisiphone, Alecto, and Megaera painted in the center of the painting are

driving Orestes mad with their vengeance for his mother, Clytemnestra’s murder.

Bouguereau’s Orestes Pursued by the Furies was painted in 1862 on the cusp of the

Impressionist movement in art. His brushstrokes were extremely smooth, barely discernible, and

created a glossy glass-like finish. The tones of the colors and classical studies of painting the

human body contributed to the beauty and emotion evoked by of this painting.

The painting contains five figures, Orethes, his mother Clytemnestra, and the three

Furies: Tisiphone, Alecto, and Megaera clustered tightly together in the center of the canvas. In

the Greek mythology the Furies: Tisiphone, Alecto, and Megaera painted in the center of the

painting, surrounding Orestes, are driving him mad in revenge for Clytemnestra’s murder.

Orestes, the main character of the painting, is the male clad in only a stark white mantle draped

around his left arm and thigh, while he is clutching his ears violently. The pain caused by his

actions and the Furies screams contorts Orestes’ face in pain and agony. Clytemnestra, Orestes’

mother, is on the far left of the canvas with her head thrown back, her long brown hair flowing

down her back echoing the long blood red mantle that drapes the lower half of her body and

continues to flow along the ground toward the farthest right lower corner of the canvas. The right

most Fury supports Clytemnestra’s upper torso. Clytemnestra, not yet dead is reaching with her
 Jeniffer Sams-Harrison
Art History - Technical Communication
Fall 2009
Orestes Pursued by the Furies
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right hand for the dagger impaling her thru her white blouse. Her pallor is one of a person on thin

veil between life and death. All the Furies show anger, vengeance, and violence portrayed in

their facial expressions and gestures. The two Furies on the left of the canvas are difficult to see

as they are in the background behind Orestes and Clytemnestra. The Fury furthest to the right of

the canvas is half nude in a blue-grey mantle flowing around the lower half of her body and

draping her left arm. The torch in her left hand is a symbol of the illumination of a passage of

Orestes’ journey. The three Furies all have Medusa like hair with the snakes echoing the anger

of the Furies themselves. The foreground is illuminated by an unknown light source, perhaps a

mythical light source exemplifying the crime and punishment of Orestes’ deeds. The background

of the painting is subordinated by chiaroscuro. In the right foreground a twisted and thorny vines

creep across the path of the characters of this painting.

Bouguereau utilized implied lines via the pointing, accusing fingers of all the Furies

directed toward the murdered Clytemnestra thereby directing the observers attention on her and

away from the dramatic actions of Orestes. Clytemnestra’s own hand and arm create an implied

line in the opposite direction of the Furies pointing toward the dagger in her chest and therefore

the crime. The parallel lines created by the Furies’ arms pointing toward the impaled

Clytemnestra indicate the equality of their position both in the painting and as “demi-gods”. The

red, orange, and yellow flames from the far right Furies’ torch makes an implied diagonal line

from the torch’s flame downward toward the left and flows alongside the outside of

Clytemnestra’s red robe down to the far left bottom of the canvas. The effect of this implied line

redirects the sight of the observer in the direction of the original source of this scene. All the

actual and implied lines of this painting serve to continuously redirect the observer’s attention to

different portions of the drama on the canvas.

 Jeniffer Sams-Harrison
Art History - Technical Communication
Fall 2009
Orestes Pursued by the Furies
3
Orestes Pursued by the Furies; Analysis

Bouguereau balanced this painting, which created unity as well as discord via many

methods including the use of several perceived triangles. Traditionally, the main character

would be placed at the apex of the triangle thus creating a hierarchy within the painting. In this

painting there is an inverted triangle with Clytemnestra and the three Furies creating the long line

of the triangle and the lower point of Orestes’ white robe creating the apex. There may be many

reasons for the inverted triangle, however it makes sense that Orestes would be the apex as he is

the center of the story, the inversion of the triangle creates a discord in the theme of the painting.

The triangle created by Orestes’ legs on the ground serves to visually stabilizes the painting as is

traditional in classical painting.

Bouguereau utilized a restricted pallet on this canvas with grand effect. The main colors

utilized by the artist were reds, slate blue, browns and a small amount of yellow and orange. The

use of color furthers the inhuman characteristics of the Furies with an eerie gray bluish skin tone

and the pale white skin of Clytemnestra as compared to the sun warmed skin tone of Orestes.

The use of red on the clothing of the murdered mother serve to create a dramatic focal point and

strong emotion in the observer as it flows down the right side of the canvas much like the blood

flowing down her chest from the dagger impaling her. The red is then repeated in a muted shade

in small amounts dotted throughout the “Medusa like hair” of the Furies in the snakes’ mouths

and their forked tongues. The red ends to the right of the canvas in a torch held by the

outstretched arm of the right most Fury which is draped in a slate blue mantle and continues

down her back, then wraps around her lower torso to cover her mostly nude body. The red,

orange, and yellow of the torch are muted in comparison with the red of the blood and robe of
 Jeniffer Sams-Harrison
Art History - Technical Communication
Fall 2009
Orestes Pursued by the Furies
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Clytemnestra on the far left of the canvas. The torch, however small and muted in color draws

the eye back to the murdered Clytemnestra by creating an implied diagonal line from the torch to

the red robe. It must be noted that the red, orange, and yellow of the torch’s colors pale in

comparison to the red of the blood and robe of the murdered Clytemnestra, much like the

punishment for Orestes pales in comparison to his crime.

The use of tone and value are also employed for both uniformity and contrast. The stark

white paint for Orestes’ robe surrounding his left arm and his central torso is repeated on his

mother, Clytemnestra’s white night blouse on her upper torso and arms unifying the relationship

of the two figures. Bouguereau utilized chiaroscuro, with black and brown tones to create a

subordination of the background thus further drawing attention back to the focal point of the

painting.

When painting Orestes Pursued by the Furies, Bouguereau painted the canvas and the

figures larger than life. There are two plausible reasons for the size of both the canvas and the

figures. The painting itself refers to a classical theme, time, and style, which would have made

the size of the painting quite appropriate. Moreover, the moral lessons themselves are larger

than life and were reflected in the size of the canvas and the figures.