Gavin Hamilton, R.A. 1723-1798

The former was commissioned by Francis Russell, Marquess of Tavistock (1739-1767);
Acquired by Walter Butler, 2nd Earl of Ossory;
Later owned by the Dundas family at Arniston

The latter was commissioned by Luke Gardiner in 1771

The present works form part of a series of six paintings by Gavin Hamilton which were based on the story of Homer's Iliad.

The first was Andromache Weeping over the Body of Hector (National Gallery of Scotland) which was finished in 1761 and exhibited in London the following year.  The second was Achilles Mourning the Death of Patroclus (National Gallery of Scotland).  The next in the series was Achilles dragging the body of Hector around the walls of Troy (the present lot) followed by The Anger of Achilles for the loss of Briseis (untraced).  King Priam pleading for the body of Hector was painted next (present lot), and the series was concluded by Hector's Farewell to Andromache (on loan to the Hunterian Art Gallery, University of Glasgow).  Hamilton did not follow the chronology of the Iliad for the purposes of this series, but he was keen that all six paintings should be engraved be Cunego so as to form a coherent narrative much in the manner of Hogarth's Marriage a la Mode.