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Gaetano Gandolfi

Ulysses Before Circe, Mercury Behind

1766
Red chalk, with touches of wetted red chalk, on cream laid paper
49.9 × 35.9 cm (19.6 × 14.1 in)

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In the collection of Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago · as of July 2026

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FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG

In this scene, Gaetano Gandolfi illustrated the moment from Homer’s epic poem the Odyssey when the hero violently confronts the enchantress Circe, who has transformed his men into swine. In the left foreground, several of Circe’s hybrid victims seem to be in the process of transforming back into men, while behind Ulysses the god Mercury ascends through an arch. The drawing is a tour de force of compositional invention and technical skill, alive with energy and balletic form. Gandolfi’s expert use of the uncolored paper to express dramatic lighting in particular gives the work a kind of radiance.

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More by Gaetano Gandolfi

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