Memnon's Statue

48.5 x 32 cm (19.1 x 12.6 inches).
Memnon's Statue
This spectacular baroque engraving is from Bernard Picart's Le Temple Des Muses.
The engraving was made in 1733, is from the first edition and is an original antique. It has captions in French, English, German, and Dutch.
It is in very good condition for its age.
In Greek myth, Memnon was King of Ethiopia and son of Aurora and Tithonus. He was a superb warrior, yet Achilles killed him at Troy. Aurora was inconsolable. She wept for him each morning and her tears made the dawn's dew. Memnon was also worshipped in Egypt. The colossal statue at Thebes was called The Statue of Memnon. When the first rays of the morning sun (Aurora) fell upon the statue it made a sound like a string snapping in a lyre or harp. Picart's stunning engraving shows the statue of Memnon looking towards the sunrise (his mother), dew drops at his feet and a lyre in the border.