Art Institute of Chicago
Circe with Companions of Ulysses Changed into Animals
Giovanni Benedetto CastiglioneLinkedCulture matchlcp-d63eba601c72
- Date
- 1650–51
- Medium
- Etching on ivory laid paper
- Culture
- Italy
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Institution
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Object ID
- 30481
From the Art Institute of Chicago record
Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione was a painter, printmaker, and draftsman who studied under Anthony van Dyck and Giovanni Andrea de Ferrari. He was known as a specialist in the depiction of animals, and the various creatures on the right of this etching show his dexterity. Circe, the daughter of the sun in Greek mythology, was a sorceress known for her ability to transform men into animals. In Homer’s Odyssey , Circe invites Ulysses and his men to a feast. During the meal, she drugs the men and turns them into pigs. Some art historians argue that because the animals in this etching are not pigs, the subject is actually the pensive figure of Melancholy, made famous by a 1514 Albrecht Dürer engraving.
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Provenance & credit
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- Credit line
- Prints and Drawings Purchase Fund
Linked open data
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- Object type
- AAT300041273
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