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The Anger of Achilles

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One of the last of David's history paintings, it shows the moment in Greek myth when Agamemnon reveals to Achilles that he has not actually brought his daughter Iphigenia to him as a bride, but rather intends to sacrifice her in order to appease the goddess Artemis. Achilles begins to draw his sword in anger upon hearing this, while Agamemnon's wife, Clytemnestra, looks on in grief and sadness with her hand on her daughter's shoulder.

David produced the work during his exile in Brussels. An 1825 copy of the painting is sometimes attributed to Michel Ghislain Stapleaux under David's direction. This copy is now in a private collection; according to ICIJ, it is owned through a British Virgin Islands-registered company by Russian media manager Konstantin Ernst.

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