Title: Les Chimères
Description: Les Chimères or “The Chimaeras” is an unfinished painting by the French Symbolist painter Gustave Moreau (6 April 1826 – 18 April 1898) executed in 1884. It depicts a large forest scene wherein various nude women are associated with sundry figures from classical and medieval mythology –not only the titular chimeras, but also centaurs, winged creatures, fawns, minotaurs, etc. The painting is a philosophical meditation on what Moreau saw as the elemental nature of Woman, depicting the internal yearnings and dreams of women (des chimères being a French idiom indicating unrealistic dreams) through complex mythological symbolism. Moreau abandoned the work shortly after his mother’s death to work on the darker polyptych La Vie de l'Humanité, considered one of his masterpieces.
Author(s): Gustave Moreau