Mercury and Argus in a Landscape

Cleveland Museum of Art

Mercury and Argus in a Landscape

Dirck van der LisseLinkedCulture matchlcp-b4aa0f51d9ce

Date
c. 1635
Medium
oil on copper
Culture
Netherlands
Department
European Painting and Sculpture
Institution
Cleveland Museum of Art
Object ID
154645

From the Cleveland Museum of Art record

This painting depicts a scene from ancient myth. The queen of the gods, Juno, jealous of her husband Jupiter's affair with Io, changed the mortal woman into a cow. Juno then ordered Argus - a giant with many eyes - to watch over Io constantly. In response, Zeus sent Mercury, the god of deception, to free Io. Mercury lulled Argus to sleep by playing the flute, then killed him and released the cow. The artist set the scene in a landscape with classical ruins. The expansive vista belongs to an earlier tradition that evokes the immenseness of the world through panoramic views, offering the suggestion of boundless space.

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Provenance & credit

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Credit line
Bequest of Mrs. Severance A. Millikin
Provenance
(Colnaghi, London, 1967). | Severance and Greta Millikin, Cleveland, upon his death, by inheritance to Greta Millikin. | Greta Millikin, upon her death, held in trust by the estate, | Estate of Greta Millikin, by bequest to the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1989.

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