Oedipus and the Sphinx (1808)

Jean-August-Dominique Ingres: Oedipus and the Sphinx

The Louvre web site comments on this painting as follows:

In a steep, rocky landscape, Oedipus, a character from Greek mythology, is seen naked, in profile, facing the Sphinx. This monster, with the face, head, and shoulders of a woman, a lion's body, and bird's wings, is standing in the shadows of a cave. Oedipus is giving the solution to the riddle that the Sphinx has asked him, as he has asked all travelers passing through this region of Thebes. When the monster asked him: "What is it that has a voice and walks on four legs in the morning, on two at noon, and on three in the evening?" Oedipus answered that it was man who, as a child crawls on all fours, as an adult walks on two legs, and in old age uses a stick as a third leg. At the bottom of the picture, a discarded foot and human bones recall the previous travelers who have perished after failing to reply. In the background, one of Oedipus's companions is running away, terrified. Further away, in the distance, the buildings of the city of Thebes can just be made out. The theme of the work is the triumph of intelligence and of human beauty. But the scene is also one of man confronting his destiny since Oedipus's exploit will lead to him becoming king of Thebes and marrying his mother Jocasta, as the oracle had predicted when he was born. It was a subject rarely portrayed from the end of the classical period until Ingres, but in the nineteenth century it came to fascinate many artists, most notably Gustave Moreau (1826-1898).