Chapter 19 Closer Look 6: The Building of the Trojan Horse

Morford 11e Chapter 19 Image 19.13

The Building of the Trojan Horse

The Building of the Trojan Horse, by Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo (1727–1804); oil on canvas, 1773, 76 3 141 in. This huge painting is the only survivor of three final versions of a series on The Fall of Troy, for which all three preparatory oil sketches exist. The massive horse dominates the composition, as workmen with their tools and ladders swarm over it. To the left two figures stand on a rock outside the walls of Troy, probably Epeus (gesturing) and, behind him, Odysseus disguised with a turban and ill-fitting cloak. In the background are the walls of Troy, in front of which a warrior, a woman with a baby, and a servant (possibly, if improbably, Hector and his family) observe the building, while other Trojans look down from the tower on the left.

Source: Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art/Art Resource, NY

Questions to Consider

1.If the caption is correct and the figures on the left are Epeus and Odysseus, then why would Odysseus be in disguise? Odysseus’ disguises and cunning lies are a major part of Homer’s Odyssey, of course, but which myths set during the war at Troy feature a disguised Odysseus? More broadly, why would a disguised Odysseus be appropriate for the main subject of this painting, and at this time in the mythological cycle of the Trojan War?

2.What probably catches your eye first in this enormous painting is the swarm of human activity around the horse: all those limbs, muscles, tools, and effort, swathed in various bright colors. Notice how many of the workers’ faces, though, are concealed from view—for all their verve, most of them are literally faceless. Notice too how much of the horse itself is disguised by the workers’ bodies, and how the front half of the horse is positioned away from you, the viewer. How is all this concealment and disguise—and here you might consider your answer to the first question as well—appropriate for the subject of the painting? And in what way might all the work on the big horse, directed by the architect (Epeus on the left, directing the work in progress), be a kind of allegory for the work that goes into a large-scale painting like the very one we are looking at? Keeping in mind the function of the Trojan Horse, in what ways might this painting—and by extension, all paintings that represent myths, stories, or even historical figures and incidents—be described as an act of artistic deception?