Elihu Vedder at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Eliahu Vedder's The Questioner of the Sphinx from 1863 is a quirky offshoot of the Orientalist movement. The haggard and despairing man is asking the most profound questions of the Sphinx, but his inevitable fate is indicated by the human skull lying exposed in the sand. Vedder is an American, and it seems possible that his profound fatalism at this particular date--he is only about 27--may be due at least in part to the Civil War.

Elihu Vedder, The Questioner of the Sphinx, 1863

Note:  All is not yet lost. You can still cheer yourself up by visiting my previous blog posts about the Sphinx.

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