John Duncan: Heptu Bidding Farewell to the City of Obb (1909)

(Private Collection)

A painting by the Scottish artist John Duncan (1866-1945). A lot of work of Duncan was inspired by Scottish mythology and Celtic folklore. This subject of this piece however was the invention of the artist. It depicts a naked girl (Heptu) with alabaster white skin and flame red hair who is riding on a fantastic beast. The girl is wearing a crown which suggest that she was royalty of the island of Obb that she is now fleeing (in the background you can see the palace standing high on a mountain). The beast itself looks like a griffin (a creature with the body of a lion and the wings and head of an eagle). Painting from 1909.