Achilles lays Hector's corpse at the feet of the body of Patroclus

This 1769 canvas, now in the Louvre, depicting Achilles placing Hector's corpse at the feet of Patroclus was Suvée's reception piece for the Prix de Rome — or a related academic exercise demonstrating his mastery of grand Homeric subjects. The scene is drawn from the Iliad: having killed Hector in revenge for Patroclus's death, Achilles brings the Trojan prince's body to the feet of his dead companion in a gesture that is simultaneously triumphant and funerary. The Homeric epics were canonical sources for Neoclassical history painting, providing subjects of moral and emotional weight that matched the movement's ambitions. Suvée's treatment — the confrontation of two corpses mediated by the living, grieving Achilles — required him to manage a composition of exceptional emotional and formal complexity. The Louvre's holding of this work confirms its significance within the early French Neoclassical tradition.

The composition organizes three principal figures — Achilles, the body of Hector, and the body of Patroclus — across a horizontal plane with attendant warriors providing depth. Suvée uses controlled chiaroscuro to distinguish the living Achilles from the two pale corpses flanking him. The handling is vigorous and sculptural.