This work dates from the time of the painter’s stay in Rome alongside Fabre and Girodet.  It shows the young painter’s hesitation between the mythological gallantries of the 18th century and the neo-classical pathos.  Rather than a kiss or an embrace, Meynier chooses the hero’s solitude and the pain of absence.  He demonstrates his learning by borrowing all his vocabulary from Greek antiquity.  The fantastical treatment of the landscape and the lighting herald the era of romanticism.