APELLES ET CAMPASTE. Sachant que pour son tendre et ravissant modèle Apelles se mourait de désirs insensés Alexandre en grand roi lui céda cette belle Dont il avait du reste assez. (De l'art antique, essai poétique de Mr. Cavé).

Trustman, Benjamin A., Trustman, Julia M. · 1842

There exist also copies of this print carrying the number "37" in the upper right instead of "36". Rare! From the Ramus collection. We describe this as fourth state. Triumph of Art over Nature. Alexander the Great had his lover Campaste portrayed by the most important painter of his time, Apelles. In the end Alexander kept the painting and his lover remained with Apelles. Daumier understood this drawing to be a hint against contemporary classical Art. The original painting by Guérin can be seen at the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Rouen; the Venus of Milo having similar problems keeping her dress up like Campaste, is at the Louvre (Inv. Nr MR 299) in Paris. During this time, 1840's, a quarrel between painters of the classic and romantic schools had fully flared up. Delacroix asked the "loaded" question: "Who is going to liberate us from the old Greeks?" Daumier succeeded to answer it his own way by showing historic personalities such as Hercules, Pygmalion or Agamemnon in absurd situations.