The High Priestess Cydippe

This large-scale painting shows the high priestess Cydippe, whosecart was pulled by her sons Cleobis and Biton to the temple of Hera(Herodotus, I, 30–31).
The story from Greek mythology tells of the strength and virtue of two sons, who, when the team of oxen failed to arrive, pulled their mother, the high priestess of the temple of Hera at Argolis, in her cart over a great distance and in great haste to get to the temple in time. They collapsed, exhausted, on arrival, and when the celebrations were over they lay down to rest in the temple, never to awaken. The goddess granted the two a special favour for their deed, allowing the brothers to pass away peacefully while still in the full flower of their youth. 17th and 18th century French baroque painters, in particular, were fond of this theme of selfless sacrifice. The unconditional obedience to their mother is synonymous with the relationship of the French people with their absolutist monarch.
Loir sets the story in an imaginative classical urban landscape. The elaborate composition is based on Poussin’s rational perception of art. The three protagonists are joyously acclaimed by people and priests, as though on a stage. Clarity and accents of colour define the multitude in the foreground against the grey background of the cubic townscape. The artist made a second, reversed painting on the subject with a slightly altered composition (Budapest, Szépmüvészeti Muzeum, Collection Esterházy, inv. no. 698) and a reversed print (Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, Cabinet des estampes, Da 42 folio) with exactly the same arrangement as the Salzburg painting.

HABERSATTER Thomas: Loir Nicolas Pierre, The High Pristess Cydippe, in: DUCKE Astrid, HABERSATTER Thomas, OEHRING Erika: Masterworks. Residenzgalerie Salzburg. Salzburg 2015, p. 128