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Mercury Orders Calypso to Allow Ulysses Depart
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
In Homer’s Odyssey , Odysseus spends seven years captive to the nymph Calypso. Despite Calypso’s charms, Odysseus longed to return home to his family. In this composition, De Lairesse depicts the moment when the Olympian gods intervene, sending Hermes to release Odysseus from Calypso’s captivity. The Dutch De Lairesse brought French artistic taste to the Netherlands, reflected here in the firmly modeled, idealized figures and classical architecture.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineMercury Orders Calypso to Allow Ulysses Depart, c. 1670. Gerard de Lairesse (Flemish, 1641–1711), published by Nicolaes Visscher (Netherlandish, 1649–1702). Etching; sheet: 42.7 x 53.3 cm (16 13/16 x 21 in.); matted: 45.7 x 61 cm (18 x 24 in.); platemark: 35.7 x 47.9 cm (14 1/16 x 18 7/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of James A. Bergquist in Loving Memory of Katherine Lee Reid, 2023.210
