Circe Giving a Drink to Ulysses's Companions
Medium
Etching
Dimensions
Sheet: 7 3/4 × 8 9/16 in. (19.7 × 21.7 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1949
Accession Number
49.97.581
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the enchanting etching *Circe Giving a Drink Ulysses's Companions* (1540–45), Fantuzzi channels the graceful designs of Parmigianino (Girolamo Francesco Mariaola), a leading Mannerist artist known for his elongated figures and elegant distortions. This print captures a pivotal moment from Homer's *Odyssey*, where the sorceress Circe offers a transformative potion to Odysseus's sailors aboard their boat, foreshadowing their metamorphosis into animals. Measuring just 7 3/4 × 8 9/16 inches, the intimate scale invites close viewing, revealing intricate details of men, women, drinking vessels, a...