Phèdre (1880) by Alexandre Cabanel

Phèdre (1880) by Alexandre Cabanel

Phaedra is a later work of Alexandre Cabanel, a French academic painter. This work was exhibited in the Salon of 1880 and later donated by Cabanel to the Musée Fabre, located in his hometown of Montpellier, France. Phaedra is a large oil painting of a classical subject in literature, which can be attributed to Cabanel’s studies in the Paris École des Beaux-Arts. As Cabanel’s painting career developed, he expanded his style to preserve the French Academy while appealing to his personal interests in literature, often depicting new perspectives in contradiction with tradition. Alexandre Cabanel’s painting of Phaedra exemplifies his pull toward academic paintings of theatrical heroines in reference to the social happenings of late nineteenth-century France.