The Sacrifice of Polyxena at the Tomb of Achilles  1735

[i]Painting by Giovanni Battista Pittoni, the younger[/i] [br]The tragic moment depicted is from the end of the Trojan War. According to legend, the ghost of the Greek hero Achilles demanded that the Trojan princess Polyxena be sacrificed at his tomb. Achilles's son, with the feathered helmet, is leading the sacrifice. According to the Roman poet Ovid, Polyxena "kept her l...