Phryne before the Areopagus  1861

by Jean-Léon Gérôme

A depiction of Phryne, a famous hetaera (courtesan) of Ancient Greece, being disrobed before the Areopagus. Phryne was on trial for profaning the Eleusinian Mysteries, and is said to have been disrobed by Hypereides, who was defending her, when it appeared the verdict would be unfavourable. The sight of her nude body apparently so moved the judges that they acquitted her. ...
Size: 
80 × 128 cm (31.5 × 50.4 in)
Medium: 
Oil on canvas
Credit: 
Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons