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In the Greek mythology Iphigenia was the daughter of Agamemnon, king of Mycenae. Her father lead the Greek forces against Troy. The expedition was at first prevented from sailing by unfavourable winds, so Agamemnon consulted a seer, Calchas. He was told that, because he had killed a stag sacred to Artemis (Diana in Roman nomenclature), he must propitiate the goddess by sacrificing his daughter to her. Iphigenia accepted her fate out of patriotic motives. According to some, at the last moment Artemis substituted a stag for the human victim and carried Iphigenia away to be her priestess. The winds changed and the Greeks were able to sail.
In this painting Giovanni Andrea Carlone captures in detail the point at which Agamemnon had intended to sacrifice his daughter Iphigenia to the goddess Artemis. The goddess obscures the scene with cloud and snatches her from the sacrificial altar leaving in her place a deer.
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