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Allegory of Geometry
1649
Artwork Viewer
Commissioned for the Paris residence of a counsellor to Louis XIV, this canvas originally belonged to a suite of seven, each representing one of the liberal arts: arithmetic, astronomy, dialectic, geometry, grammar, music, and rhetoric. These subjects formed the basis of classical education codified in ancient Rome. In this painting, Geometry holds a compass, right angle, and sheet of proofs by the ancient mathematician Euclid. Pyramids and a sphinx allude to geometry’s origins in Egypt, while a globe references its role in mapmaking. The painting on the easel illustrates an approach to perspective proposed by one of La Hyre’s colleagues at the French Royal Academy, which both artists helped found in 1648.
- Artist
- Laurent de La Hyre
- Title
- Allegory of Geometry
- Date
- 1649
- Place of Creation
- France
- Object Type
- Painting
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 40 7/8 x 86 1/8 in. (103.8 x 218.8 cm) Framed: 51 1/4 x 96 in. (130.175 x 243.84 cm)
- Credit Line
- Museum purchase, Roscoe and Margaret Oakes Income Fund
- Accession Number
- 2014.13