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| Ludus pro patria (Patriotic Games) |
Artist:Pierre Puvis de Chavannes (French, Lyons 1824–1898 Paris)
Date:ca. 1883–89
Medium:Oil on canvas
Dimensions:13 1/8 x 52 7/8 in. (33.3 x 134.3 cm)
Classification:Paintings
Credit Line:Gift of Mrs. Harry Payne Bingham, 1958
Puvis’s evocation of ancient France shows young athletes training with pikes (piques in French), the traditional weapon of the Picardy region and reputedly the origin of the province’s name. One man has thrown his spear into the air and prepares to catch it—a rare moment of spontaneity in Puvis’s oeuvre. This work is a replica, reduced in size, of a mural that the painter completed in 1882 and installed in 1888 in the Musée de Picardie in Amiens. The exhibition and sale of such "reductions" helped publicize the artist’s monumental decorative commissions and boost his income.
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