Seduced and unaware, Oedipus murdered his father and married his mother. On discovering the truth, he tore out his eyes in despair and then prayed to the gods to decide the fate of his children. The scene comes from Sophocles’ play, Oedipus Rex, which regained popularity in the 1780s. Gagneraux, then working in Rome, has also found inspiration for Oedipus’ suffering in the Classical sculpture Laocoön and His Sons, in the Vatican’s collections.