Antique French Miniature Painting of “Sappho and Erinna” | After Simeon Solomon (1864)
Found in Paris
A breathtaking 19th-century French miniature painting set in an ornate fire-gilt bronze easel frame with deep classical detailing and a lush rococo ribbon crest. The scene captures two figures — Sappho and Erinna — seated closely with a lyre between them, in a tender moment drawn directly from the iconic 1864 painting “Sappho and Erinna in a Garden at Mytilene” by Pre-Raphaelite artist Simeon Solomon.
Solomon’s original work, celebrated for its lyrical emotion and nuanced intimacy, portrayed the ancient Greek poets as artistic soulmates, and perhaps more — using the symbolic language of lyres, lush gardens, and poetic gaze to explore female emotional connection. This miniature translates the same spirit with exquisite detail, hand-painted on ivory or bone (not tested) and backed in its original floral silk with a period hanging loop.
A romantic and meaningful addition to any collection of Grand Tour art, Pre-Raphaelite-inspired works, or poetic antiquities.
France, circa 1880s–1900s
Antique French Miniature Painting of “Sappho and Erinna” | After Simeon Solomon (1864)
Found in Paris
A breathtaking 19th-century French miniature painting set in an ornate fire-gilt bronze easel frame with deep classical detailing and a lush rococo ribbon crest. The scene captures two figures — Sappho and Erinna — seated closely with a lyre between them, in a tender moment drawn directly from the iconic 1864 painting “Sappho and Erinna in a Garden at Mytilene” by Pre-Raphaelite artist Simeon Solomon.
Solomon’s original work, celebrated for its lyrical emotion and nuanced intimacy, portrayed the ancient Greek poets as artistic soulmates, and perhaps more — using the symbolic language of lyres, lush gardens, and poetic gaze to explore female emotional connection. This miniature translates the same spirit with exquisite detail, hand-painted on ivory or bone (not tested) and backed in its original floral silk with a period hanging loop.
A romantic and meaningful addition to any collection of Grand Tour art, Pre-Raphaelite-inspired works, or poetic antiquities.
France, circa 1880s–1900s