Tom Phillips C.B.E., R.A. (British, born 1937)Virgil in his Study
oil on canvas
86.5 x 67cm (34 1/16 x 26 3/8in).
Painted in 1978注脚Provenance
The Artist, from whom acquired directly by the present owner prior to 1992
Private Collection, U.K.

Exhibited
London, Dulwich Picture Gallery, Drawing to a Conclusion: Tom Phillips at Dulwich Picture Gallery, 5 November 1997-18 January 1998

Literature
Tom Phillips, Dante's Inferno, Thames and Hudson, London and New York, 1985, p.286, (col.ill. p.17)
Tom Phillips, Huston Paschal (intro.), Tom Phillips, Works and Texts, Thames and Hudson, London and New York, 1992, (col.ill. p.236)

The present work was painted to illustrate Canto II/1 in Phillips' translation of Dante's Inferno. Here, Phillips has depicted Virgil seated and poised over the Sixth Book of the Aeneid, symbolically chosen because it was the principal source for the Inferno. Behind him hang two swords, representing the epic endeavour of writing, with one belonging to Homer and the other to Virgil; the space left for a third, according to Phillips, is 'reserved for that of Dante' (Tom Phillips, Dante's Inferno, Thames and Hudson, London and New York, p.286). Elaborating on the picture, the Artist noted: 'This companion-piece to Dante in his Study shows Virgil in a similar room. The positions of the figure and the book derive also from Signorelli, but more remotely. Since no authoritative image of Virgil exists he is pictured without features. As with Dante the hands are my own and drawn from life.' (ibid., p.286).