Agrippina Mourns the Urn of Germanicus

Agrippina Mourns the Urn of Germanicus from 1793 depicts the Roman heroine grieving over her husband’s ashes, a subject of female heroic virtue that Kauffmann made her particular specialty. The theme of dignified feminine mourning resonated with late 18th-century neoclassical values and the cult of sensibility. Characteristic of the artist's mature approach, the work displays graceful, decorative Neoclassicism combining classical subject matter with a lyrical sweetness, soft color, elegant figure types, pendant portraits and mythological scenes.

The mourning figure’s pose and drapery follow classical relief sculpture conventions. Kauffmann’s restrained palette of muted tones enhances the solemnity of the funerary subject.