The Chosen Five
Edwin Long, 1885
This painting by the English artist Edwin Long depicts a scene from ancient Greece based on the story of Zeuxis, who, while working on a picture of Helen of Troy, wanted to combine the ideal beauty of several women into one figure. He chose five young women from Croton, who are shown posing in his studio. The composition focuses on the painter's attentive gaze and on the variety of bodies and gestures of the models, rendered in a calm, academic manner typical of history painting of the period. It was made as a companion to The Search for Beauty, which shows Zeuxis looking for the most beautiful woman. Both were exhibited in London in 1885. The work later passed to the collector Merton Russell-Cotes, who donated it to the Bournemouth gallery in 1921. The subject had already been treated by the Neoclassical painter François-André Vincent in 1789, showing how much this story fascinated artists for over a century.
- Painter
- Edwin Long
- Date
- 1885
- Medium
- oil paint, canvas
- Dimensions
- 149 × 240 cm
- Museum
- Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole
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