03 — ARTWORK
Salammbô and Matho
- MEDIUM
- Bronze, gold, ivory, and turquoise, height 40 cm
- TYPE
- Mythological
PALETTE
HOVER OR TAP A SWATCH FOR NAME, SHARE AND HEX. SAMPLED FROM THE IMAGE — INDICATIVE, NOT A PIGMENT ANALYSIS.
THIS REPRODUCTION DOWNLOAD THE FULL FILE ↓
- FILE
- 800 × 1219 px · JPEG
COMMENTARY
UNDERLINED TERMS ARE DEFINED IN THE GLOSSARY.
The subject of this work was taken from Gustave Flaubert's novel, Salammbô, published in 1862. The story takes place between 241–238 BC, during the war between Carthage and its mercenaries in revolt. The Libyan Mathô, the chief of the barbarian soldiers, fell in love with Salammbô, the daughter of his Carthaginian enemy Hamilcar Barca. Rivière has chosen the moment when, mortally wounded by the people, Mathô dies at the feet of his idol crying: "I love you! I love you!" The figure of Salammbô, the femme fatale, inspired many other Symbolist artists.
This group is modelled as Salammbô standing wearing a pointed head-dress, her flowing robe with jewelled clasps, Matthô kneeling with his right leg outstretched, embracing her passionately, on a mound basemolded foot of a pillar or column providing the transition from the plinth to the shaft..
CITE THIS RECORD — BIBTEX
@online{wga-r7241277c3a1480,
author = {Krén, Emil and Marx, Daniel},
title = {Salammbô and Matho by RIVIÈRE, Théodore},
organization = {{Web Gallery of Art}},
date = {2026-09-09},
url = {https://beta.wga.hu/artists/rivire-thodore-r64b98bd2d58a21/salammb-and-matho-r7241277c3a1480},
urldate = {2026-09-09},
langid = {english}
}ACCESSED 2026-09-09. REPLACE THE AUTHOR FIELD WITH THE COMMENTARY AUTHOR WHERE ONE IS NAMED.
OTHER WORKS BY THÉODORE RIVIÈRE
The archive catalogues no further works by this artist.
TRY SAME COLLECTION →