\paperw19995 \margr0\margl0 \plain \fs20 \f1 This painting represents the Greek poet Sappho, who lived between the seventh and sixth century BC, and the handsome youth P
haon, whose rejection of her, according to tradition, prompted her to commit suicide by throwing herself from the Leucadian promontory.\par
The scene imagined by David û which is set in a bedchamber decorated in an elegant neoclassical style û shows us
Sappho, surprised by the arrival of the young man and drops her lyre. The youth, who is a personification of Love, seizes the musical instrument and starts to sing the ode composed by the poet for her beloved, which is written on the scroll that she hold
s on her lap.\par
The work came under fierce attack from the critics, who saw in it the charm and voluptuousness that was typically rococo and thus markedly different from the artistÆs classical style.\par
\qj It is worth noting the vivid yet delicate
coloring, the fine characterization of PhaonÆs features and the detail of his fingers stroking SapphoÆs rapturous face.\par
\ql The painting was commissioned by Prince Nicholas Boussovich Youssopov in 1808 and entered the Hermitage in 1925.
