[8][9] Art historian Avraham Kaganovich described the painting Farewell of Hector and Andromache as a mature work that exemplifies the artist's "high professional abilities as a composer, draughtsman and painter".

In the opinion of art historian Nonna Yakovleva, the painting Farewell of Hector and Andromache can serve as "an ideal textbook illustrating the compositional, colouristic and ideological principles of classicism" even in the 21st century.

His mentors were the French artists Louis-Joseph Le Lorrain, Jean Louis de Velli and Louis-Jean-François Lagrenée, who were invited to Russia by the Academy's curator, Ivan Shuvalov.

It is known that the painting was commissioned by Empress Catherine II,[15][4] and the artist worked on it in 1773,[4][9] although, according to art historian Avraham Kaganovich, "there is no doubt that it was started earlier.

[21] It is also possible that Losenko may have consulted the work of the 13th-century Italian historian Guido delle Colonne, entitled Historia destructionis Troiae.

[6] In the poem To the Deceased of the Academy of Arts Mr Professor and Director Anton Pavlovich Losenkov, which was intended as an epitaph,[23] the poet Vasily Maykov wrote: "Andromache's unhappy farewell to Hector, / Not ended by thee, it seems so, / As she must be troubled with fear, / Her sorrow is alive with thee" (Russian: «Прощаясь с Гектором несчастна Андромаха, / Не конченна тобой, уж зрится такова, / Какою должно быть смущённой ей от страха — / Печаль её тобой представлена жива»).

[4] Foreseeing trouble, Andromache is persuading her husband not to risk his life: "stay here upon this wall; make not your child fatherless, and your wife a widow".

Hector foresees the defeat of his army and the destruction of Troy, which will lead to slavery and the suffering of his loved ones, but he refuses Andromache's pleas: "Wife, I too have thought upon all this, but with what face should I look upon the Trojans, men or women, if I shirked battle like a coward?

[32] At the same time, according to art historian Avraham Kaganovich, "Hector's face and figure do not evoke an antique prototype, they are as real as the model that the artist undoubtedly used".

Hector's clothes, including his cloak, are painted in the 18th-century pictorial tradition and more reminiscent of the Baroque than the Classical style, and his appearance has "much more real simplicity than epic grandeur".

In general, the tradition of Russian classicism is evident in this work, which avoids excessive abstraction and introduces elements of concreteness into the portrayal of the characters, making them more understandable and closer to the audience.

[34] The image of Andromache, also central to the composition of the painting, is, in Kaganovich's opinion, less successful than that of Hector, particularly because "he has been more influenced by abstract classics than anyone else".

This is likely due to the fact that the artist had not yet completed her image, particularly in the case of Andromache's face and eyes, which were merely "prepared for painting", and her clothes, which exhibited "an abundance of hinted and not yet revealed folds".

[41] Art historians also note the artist's considerable skill in portraying the warriors depicted on the left side of the painting, who are perceived as active participants in the composition.

Losenko sought to make the most of its possibilities and to utilise it as an active element and an important factor in the figurative expressiveness of the painting.

Losenko painted his picture a hundred years before Heinrich Schliemann's archaeological expedition began excavations at the site of the original Troy in the 1870s.

In Losenko's painting, the architectural image of the ancient city is depicted in a grandiose manner - "a high wall with a number of Doric columns, huge, antique-style gates and fortress towers in the background create an impression of true grandeur".

[44] The Russian Museum owns the graphic sketch Farewell of Hector and Andromache (grey paper, Italian pencil, 21.8 × 29.1 cm, inv.

The State Tretyakov Gallery owns a sketch of the painting Farewell of Hector and Andromache (oil on canvas, 48.3 × 63.5 cm, inv.

[27] Abraham Kaganovich, noting the softness of the colour relationships and the integrity of the colouristic environment, wrote that "in Russian historical painting of the 18th century, this sketch retains a unique position as the most picturesque work".

[49] Avraham Kaganovich believes that the preparatory drawing for the crying maid was probably made from life - according to him, this study is "lively and expressive, faithfully representing the model".

[50] This study, which depicts a young warrior bent over with a shield, is "characterised by great skill of execution, faithfulness of proportions and complete clarity of the model's character."

[53] In one of the letters written in the early 1790s, the writer and educator Mikhail Muravyov recalled: "With what pleasure we were saturated with the sight of Losenkov's paintings.

Chelo hero frank, hands, stretched to accept the baby, the courage of the parent, pleasantly opposed to the tenderness and fears of the mother.

[54][36] In a review of Losenko's work published in 1914, the art historian Sergei Ernst wrote that the events depicted in Hector's Farewell unfold against a backdrop of monumental architecture, "under a cloudy, restless sky".

[55] Art historian Alexei Savinov noted that, as in his earlier painting Vladimir and Rogneda (1770, State Russian Museum), in Farewell of Hector and Andromache Losenko "combined the great and the simple, theatrical elevation and vital naturalness", using a variety of artistic methods in search of greater expressiveness of content.

[56] The elements of Losenko's original style, according to Savinov, include "strict, clear composition, spatiality of construction, strong contrasts of colour and shadow, painterliness of the painting as a whole, severity next to emotional elevation, figures in sharp movement or motionless".

[60] According to Vereshchagina, unlike the earlier painting Vladimir and Rogneda, where "the emphasis was placed on revealing the lyrical properties of the hero's soul", in Farewell of Hector and Andromache the artist "showed the civil virtues of man".

[60] Noting the beauty of the colouring of both the sketch and the main canvas, Vereshchagina wrote that "from a purely pictorial point of view, these things are more interesting than all the earlier works by Losenko".

[61] According to art historian Nonna Yakovleva, the painting Farewell of Hector and Andromache can still serve as "an ideal textbook illustrating the compositional, colouristic and ideological principles of classicism".