Coresus Sacrificing Himself to Save Callirhoe

Coresus Sacrificing Himself to Save Callirhoe is a large painting by the French Rococo artist Jean-Honoré Fragonard, created in 1765. It depicts the high priest Coresus plunging a knife into his body, sacrificing himself to save his lover Callirhoe, who has fainted. The painting was exhibited at the Salon of 1765 and earned Fragonard entry into the Académie Royale. It was acquired by Louis XV and is now in the Musée du Louvre, Paris. The preparatory sketch for the work belongs to the collection of the Musée des Beaux-Arts d'Angers, and a ricordo has been part of the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid since 1816. Later, Fragonard created a loose chalk sketch of the same scene but at a smaller scale. This drawing is currently in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.