Pastoral poetry

Puvis de Chavannes, Pierre, 1824-1898 · [ca. 1893–1896]

In this panel, Puvis depicts Virgil, author of the Aeneid and one of the artist's personal favorites. In the foreground sit two beehives, set by a stream in a grove of trees. The robed Virgil stands amongst the trees, laden with their golden leaves. As written in the Aeneid, golden leaves marking the entrance to the under world must be picked in order to gain passage to the land below. In the distant background, Puvis depicts two shepherds.