His two unsuccessful attempts for the Prix de Rome included The Annunciation to the Shepherds for the 1875 competition and Priam at the Feet of Achilles for the 1876 competition. These works reflected the artist's struggle to formulate, or even reconcile, his emerging naturalist style evident in his portraits with acceptable Salon themes. Each picture depicts an elderly man, a shepherd in one, and a king in the other, rendered in a far more individualistic way than their youthful counterparts, an angel in the Annunciation to the Shepherds and Achilles in Priam at the Feet of Achilles. The artist's attempts to paint idealized representations of youthful figures, the staples of the École tradition, remained somewhat awkward and unconvincing. He seemed unable to successfully impose classical anatomy and facial features on an imperfect model; he was far more at ease when painting the elderly men in the Prix pictures. It is tempting to think that he had the successful picture of his grandfather in mind when working out his these two compositions.
Gina Laffin on 28 Jul 10May speak to why the old man is so much more pronounced than the young girl in the painting
