The painting tells the story of how Queen Artemisia of Caria in Asia Minor supposedly ordered the building of the Mausolaeum at Halicarnassus in memory of her husband, Mausolus (352 B.C.). The Queen is said to have mixed Mausolus’ ashes with liquid, which she drank. She thus comes to symbolise a widow’s devotion. Vouet depicts the strongly idealised figures in a classical architectural setting, using Venetian colour and light. Form and content harmonise.
<bdi><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Simon_Vouet" class="extiw" title="w:en:Simon Vouet"><span title="French painter (1590-1649)">Simon Vouet</span></a>
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early 1640s <div style="display: none;">date QS:P571,+1640-00-00T00:00:00Z/8,P4241,Q40719727</div>
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