Activity

Sappho, an Inspiration to Artists

Characters:

Sappho of Lesbos (Sappho of Mytilene)

Theme: The presence of Sappho in today's artistic expressions

Competencies

Competence in Linguistic Communication

Personal, social and learning to learn competence

Competence in cultural awareness and expressions

Subjects and year by Educational System

Spain > Classical culture > 4th ESO > Continuity of cultural heritage. Literature, art and science

Enunciation

Neoclassical and Romantic painters often turned their gaze to Ancient Greece looking for inspiration. Sappho, a poetess from Lesbos in the 7th-6th century BC, was an attractive figure represented many times. You are going to analyse five paintings in which Sappho is the main character. &nbsp;
Look at the images, watch them carefully and answer the following questions: &nbsp;
a) Why do you think Angelica Kauffmann painted Eros inspiring the poetess?&nbsp;
b) In Amanda Brewster's painting, Sappho is depicted alongside some of her students. Do some research on the school of Sappho. &nbsp;
c) How is Sappho portrayed in Simeon Solomon's painting? Why do you think he portrayed her like that? Look up for information on Erinna. Do you think this scene might have actually happened?&nbsp;
d) In Alma-Tadema's painting, Sappho is depicted with another famous lyrical poet. Do some research on Alcaeus and summarise the most important information. Do you think this scene might have actually happened? &nbsp;
e) Despite its lack of historical rigour, Sappho's cause of suicide being a failed relationship fit the Romantic ideals and she became highly popular during that period. Find some other Romantic paintings which represent this ideal, choose your favourite one and explain why. &nbsp;
f) Read Heroides XV by Ovid, where he tells the story of Sappho's alleged suicide and summarise it. &nbsp; &nbsp; Paintings:&nbsp;
- Angelica Kauffmann, Sappho Inspired by Love (1775)&nbsp;
- Th&eacute;odore Chass&eacute;riau, Sappho Jumping off to the Sea from a Leucadian Promontory&nbsp;(1840)&nbsp;
- Simeon Solomon, Sappho and Erinna in a garden in Mytilene (1864)&nbsp;
- Lawrence Alma-Tadema, Sappho and Alcaeus (1881)&nbsp;
- Amanda Brewster Sewell, The Poetess Sappho with Her Pupils (1883)&nbsp;

Observations and context

Sappho's example served as a stimulus for almost all the surviving poets of Greco-Roman antiquity, from the Greeks (Mirtis and Corina, from Boeotia; Telesila and Praxila, from the Peloponnese; Erina, from the island of Telos; Mero, from Byzantium; Anita, from Tegea, a modest village in Arcadia? ) to the Romans (Melino, the elegiac Sulpicia, Herenia Procula, Sulpicia the satirist, the travellers Julia Balbila and Cecilia Trebula, Fabia Aconia Paulina, the last pagan...). Romantic writers used it as a shield to validate female authorship (Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda, Carolina Coronado, María Rosa Gálvez, etc.). With the contributions of the papyri found at the end of the 19th and 20th centuries, Sappho was once again translated and read.

- This activity can be completed with a more detailed analysis of the iconography in the paintings, the factsheet of the painting or more information about the authors or the pictorial movement.

- The painting by Simeon Solomon can also be studied using Erinna as a basis.

- There are many paintings which depict this poetess, especially during Romanticism. Five of them have been selected, but others might be chosen if desired.

The works to be analysed are the following:

- Angelica Kauffmann, Sappho Inspired by Love (1775)

- Théodore Chassériau, Sappho Jumping off to the Sea from a Leucadian Promontory, (1840)

- Simeon Solomon, Sappho and Erinna in a garden in Mytilene (1864)

- Lawrence Alma-Tadema, Sappho and Alcaeus (1881)

- Amanda Brewster Sewell, The Poetess Sappho with Her Pupils (1883)

Description

Students are encouraged to do some research on Sappho in later paintings, in particular in Neoclassic and Romantic paintings. We study five paintings including Sappho and analyse the different ways in which she is depicted.

Answer

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