Ingres et le mythe d’Œdipe
Laurent Grison
The French painter Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres (1780-1867) depicted one of the most powerful Greek myths in a painting entitled Oedipus Explaining the Enigma of the Sphinx. Painted in 1808, and then reworked by the artist, it was exhibited at the Salon in 1827. Ingres explores the deep symbolic meaning of the myth and skilfully represents a number of essential elements at the same time. He places Oedipus at the centre of a philosophical reflection on death, that of the hero as well as of any man. In this neo-classical painting, Ingres creates a sort of triplicity, a convergence of vision between Oedipus, the Sphynx and the spectator.