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Anchises Bids Farewell to his Son Aeneas and the Sibyl Deiphobe at the Fates of Avernus

Artist: Wilhelm Bottner (German, 1752-1805)

Date: 1780

Medium: Oil on canvas

Collection: Palazzo della Pilotta, Parma, Italy

Description

In Book 6 of Theoi Classical Texts Library (The Aeneid) by Virgil, Anchises does not say farewell at the entrance of the underworld; instead, arter guiding his son through Elysium and showing him the future souls of Rome. Anchises escorts Aeneas and the Sibyl (Deiphobë) to the Twin Gates of Sleep and sends them back to the living world through the Ivory Gate.

Wilhelm IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel, later Elector Wilhelm I, his wife, Wilhelmine Caroline and their children, Wilhelm, Friederika and Caroline

Artist: Wilhelm Böttner (German, 1752-1805)

Date: 1791

Medium: Oil on canvas

Collection: Royal Collection Trust, London, United Kingdom

Description

William IX was George III's first cousin - his mother was Princess Mary (1723-72), the sister of George III's father, Frederick, Prince of Wales. He inherited the title Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel upon the death of this father in 1785 and was subsequently in 1803 granted the title of Elector of Hesse. One of the richest princes in Europe, his employment of Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1744-1812) as 'Court Factor' effectively launched the fortunes of that family. Wilhelm also built in 1785 a new range of palace buildings and an English landscape garden to the Wilhelmsöhe Park in the hills above Kassel.

Böttner shows the Landgrave with his wife, Wilhelmine Caroline (1747-1820), whom he married in 1764, and their three surviving children, Wilhelm (1777-1847), Friederika (1768-1839), and Caroline (1771-1848). The family are relaxing in Wilhelmshöhe Park, with the block at the end of the new range of palace buildings, presumably under construction, visible behind them.