Attributed to Gérard de Lairesse Liège 1640 - 1711 Amsterdam

The subject of this painting is taken from Valerius Maximus; Facta et Dicta memorabilia, V, 7, 1, and was also described by Plutarch; XLIII:38. The story relates how Prince Antiochus, the son of King Seleceus, fell in love with his stepmother Stratonice. As his love could not be answered, he wished to starve himself to death. When the court docter Erasistratus discovered the reason for the prince's illness, he informed Seleucus, who immediately abdicated and offered his wife and kingdom to his son.

The interior in this work bears close resemblance to the grand official rooms of the Amsterdam town hall, build by Jacob van Campen (1596-1657), now known as the Paleis op de Dam. This building was, even then, considered as the example of Classicist architecture, a style De Lairesse adapted, and preached in his ‘t Groot Schilder-boek from 1707. The title page of the book reveals a print by Gilliam van der Gouwen (active 1669-1720), after possibly an idea of De Lairesse, where the master is blindfolded and his right hand is lead by one of Apollo’s muses while drawing.

De Lairesse treated the same subject in other paintings, dated 1673 and 1676, the first in the Museum of Schwerin, the latter in Karlsruhe (see A. Roy, Gerard de Lairesse, 1992, p. 251, nr. P71 and p. 265, nr. P93, both reproduced). These examples were painted relatively early in his career, while the present one appears to be from a later date. Stylistically, the execution feels poorer than these earlier works, which is possibly a result of the master's growing blindness.