Oath of the Women of Athens and Sparta

Currently not on view

Oath of the Women of Athens and Sparta

1934

Pablo Ruiz y Picasso (Spanish, 1881–1973) Plate printed by Atelier Lacourière, Paris (1929–2008) Published by Limited Editions Club, New York

Picasso deliberately sought out projects that allowed him to portray scenes from classical mythology. In 1934 he illustrated a limited-edition volume of Lysistrata, an ancient Greek comedy written by Aristophanes in 411 BCE, about protests staged by soldiers’ wives during the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BCE). This etching depicts the moment when Lysistrata, the play’s protagonist, persuades the wives of soldiers in the rival cities of Athens and Sparta to take an oath to withhold sex from their husbands until they agreed to end the war.

Currently not on view

Object Details

Titles:

Oath of the Women of Athens and Sparta
Oath of the Women, Serment des Femmes, From the suite Lysistrata, New York, 1934

Date:

1934

Artists:

Pablo Ruiz y Picasso (Spanish, 1881–1973) Plate printed by Atelier Lacourière, Paris (1929–2008) Published by Limited Editions Club, New York

Medium:

Etching and aquatint

Dimensions:

Plate: 8 11/16 x 5 7/8 inches (22 x 15 cm) Sheet: 15 1/16 x 11 inches (38.3 x 28 cm)

Classification:

Prints

Credit Line:

Purchased with the John D. McIlhenny Fund, 1941

Accession Number:

1941-8-100

Geography:

Made in France, Europe

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Currently not on view