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Jean Michel Moreau

Creusa Pleads with Aeneas as He Leaves for War

1803
Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash, on cream wove paper
22.6 × 15.5 cm (8.9 × 6.1 in)

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In the collection of Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago · as of July 2026

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FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG

Moreau’s Creusa Pleads with Aeneas depicts the moment in the Trojan War when Aeneas must decide whether to continue to defend Troy or save his family from certain death. This was a final preparatory drawing for an engraving, which would appear in the book of a French translation of Virgil’s Aeneid published in 1804. The inscription’s Latin text is spoken by Aeneas’s wife, Creusa: “If you are going out to die, take us to face it with you.”

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