Erasistratus the Physician Discovers the Love of Antiochus for Stratonice. 1776. Mezzotint

A scene from the life of Queen Stratonice I (317 – after 268 B.C.) is depicted here. She married the King of the Seleucids, who seven years later gave her to his son Antiochus as his bride. According to legend, the young man fell in love with his young stepmother and fell ill due to his unrequited love. When the doctor was taking his pulse, Stratonice entered the room and the young man’s pulse quickened. Thus the cause of his illness was revealed and the old magnanimous father allowed his wife to marry his son.

Valentine Green (1739–1813) was one of her era’s best-known English graphic artists; she worked as a court engraver in London and became a member of the local art academy.
Benjamin West (1738–1820) was an Anglo-American painter who worked in Philadelphia, New York, Rome and London, and became famous for his historical paintings, including ones with classical mythological themes.