Gustave MoreauFrench, 1826–1898Oedipus and the Sphinx
Can I see it?
Yes, on view now
Where is “Oedipus and the Sphinx” now? The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gallery 800, New York. Yes, on view now. Checked September 29, 2026.
New York, United States
Open now· until 9:00 PM
On public display.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the painting
Oedipus and the Sphinx is an 1864 oil on canvas painting by Gustave Moreau that was first exhibited at the French Salon of 1864 where it was an immediate success. It is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The work was a fresh treatment of the established subject of the meeting between Oedipus and the Sphinx on the road outside Thebes, as described in Sophocles's play Oedipus Rex.
Details
- Accession number
- 21.134.1
What it shows
In the catalog
Sources
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Image: The Metropolitan Museum of Art — Open Access (CC0)
In the life of Gustave Moreau
The whole life1859–1888 · Workplace
Paris
1862
The death of his father
In 1862 Moreau’s father, the architect Louis Moreau, died; he had encouraged his son’s drawing and instilled in him a classical culture.
1864
A Salon medal for “Oedipus and the Sphinx”
“Oedipus and the Sphinx”, one of Moreau’s first Symbolist paintings, won a medal at the Paris Salon of 1864 and established his reputation. One commentator likened it to a pastiche of Mantegna created by a German student who relaxes from his painting by reading Schopenhauer.
