Achilles Trails Hector's Body after his Chariot. Paolo and Francesca(?),

The principal motif in this drawing is in literary terms taken from the Iliad, and in artistic terms presumably from John Flaxman’s 1793 illustrations to that work. Hector has numerous deaths on his conscience in the Trojan war, but Achilles, the finest of the Greek warriors, is his slayer. In accordance with Homer’s wishes, Thorvaldsen emphasises his supremacy in this splendid drawing. The sketch of the amorous couple is due to inspiration from Dante’s Divine Comedy.