Phryne at the Festival of Poseidon in Eleusis

Phryne at the Poseidonia in Eleusis
Artist	Henryk Siemiradzki
Year	1889 (1889)
Medium	Oil on canvas
Dimensions	390 cm × 763.5 cm (150 in × 300.6 in)
Location	Russian Museum, Saint Petersburg

Phryne at the Festival of Poseidon in Eleusis or Phryne at the Poseidonia in Eleusis (Russian: Фри́на на пра́зднике Посейдо́на в Элевзи́не) is a very large-scale history painting by the Russian-born Polish painter Henryk Siemiradzki, completed in 1889. It is part of the collection of the State Russian Museum in Saint Petersburg.

The painting depicts an anecdote about the ancient Greek courtesan Phryne, told by Athenaeus in his Deipnosophistae, in which Phryne bathes in the sea at Eleusis, thus inspiring the painter Apelles to paint his Aphrodite Anadyomene. In the painting, Phryne is shown standing nude, her face shaded by a parasol. A crowd of people look at her; in the background is a temple and the sea.

Further reading

• Nitka, Maria (2020). "Naked Truth and Beauty of the Nude in Henryk Siemiradzki's Phryne" (PDF). Polska Akademia Nauk: 135–153. ISBN 978-83-63305-88-8.
• Zavyalova, Anna (July 2017). "Russian Fine Arts Section at the World's Columbian Exposition 1893: Notes on Organization and Reception" (PDF). MDCCC 1800. 6: 121–122, 126. doi:10.14277/2280-8841/MDCCC-6-17-9 (inactive 1 November 2024). ISSN 2280-8841.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of November 2024 (link)

External links

• "The Mikhailosvky Palace. Room 21". State Russian Museum. Retrieved May 7, 2023.
• Media related to Phryne by Henryk Siemiradzki at Wikimedia Commons