HAYEZ, Francesco
(b. 1791, Venezia, d. 1882, Milano)

Tethys Immerses Achilles in the Waters of Styx

1817
Detached fresco, 240 x 137 cm
Museo Correr, Venice

Hayez worked on the decoration of the interiors of the Napoleonic Wing, the building which ran between the Procuratie Vecchie and Nuove, the two long arcades of buildings which extend the length of St Mark's Square and had housed the offices and residences of some of the most important political authorities of the Venetian Republic. In the nineteenth century, when Venice was under the rule of Austria, it served as the official residence of the Habsburg Court during its frequent visits to the city, and after would become the Venetian residence of the king of Italy. Presently the building houses the Museo Correr.

In Greek mythology, Tethys, daughter of Uranus and Gaia was an archaic Titaness and aquatic sea goddess, invoked in classical Greek poetry, but not venerated in cult. Tethys was both sister and wife of Oceanus. She was mother of the chief rivers of the world known to the Greeks, such as the Nile, the Alpheus, the Maeander, and about three thousand daughters called the Oceanids.

Hayez's frescoes, originally on the wall of the Throne Room, were detached in 1950 and transferred to canvas, and now are exhibited in the Museo Correr.