Odysseus and Polyphemus
1896 · Oil and tempera on panel · Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
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About this work
- Artist
- Arnold Böcklin (1827–1901)
- Year
- 1896
- Medium
- Oil and tempera on panel
- Original size
- 66 × 150 cm
- Collection
- Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
- Movement
- Symbolism
A galley full of rowers pulls hard away through green, foaming sea, while on the rocks at right the giant Polyphemus braces on a ledge and lifts a boulder above his head to hurl at them. Spray bursts white around the rocks under a pale blue sky. The scene comes from Homer's Odyssey: the Cyclops, blinded by Odysseus and his crew after they escaped from his cave hidden under his sheep, tries to sink their ship as Odysseus taunts him from the stern. Böcklin painted it in 1896, signing it AB 1896 at lower left, and it has been in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, since 2012.
This print reproduces the whole work, uncropped, from a high-resolution scan of the original. The original is in the public domain.
Where it works
Sea green, white spray and sunlit rock suit a study, living room or a coastal house with white walls. Pair it with Aivazovsky's The Ninth Wave and hang this one at 36×24 in a dark wood frame.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- Symbolism painting
- Era
- 19th century (1896)
- Orientation
- Landscape
- Mood
- grand
- Rooms
- living room, study or library, dining room
- Good gift for
- housewarming, art lovers
Size. We'd hang this one at 36×24. Prints at 18×12, 24×16, 36×24 in — 18×12 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 24×16 above a console or sideboard; 36×24 as the statement piece above a sofa or headboard.
Framing. The gallery ground is part of the print, so frame it without a mat — black suits the deep tones of this period; dark wood warms it.
Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).
Details & materials
Shipping & returns
Is this the whole painting, or a crop?
Is Odysseus and Polyphemus in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was Odysseus and Polyphemus painted, and in what medium?
What size works above a sofa or bed?
About this design
The Madten promise
An exhibition poster
The same artwork as a gallery exhibition poster — title, artist & date typeset beneath the image on a soft ground.
