Design for a Book Illustration of Circe and Odysseus [recto]

Art Historical Context

Thomas Stothard’s delicate drawing captures a pivotal moment from Homer’s Odyssey, as the enchantress Circe confronts the hero Odysseus. Created around 1803, this preparatory design reflects the British artist’s lifelong engagement with classical literature. Stothard, a leading illustrator of his generation, produced countless images that brought ancient myths to new audiences through popular editions of Homer, Chaucer, and Shakespeare. Executed in pen and gray-brown ink with subtle wash over graphite, the sheet demonstrates the fluid, economical technique Stothard favored for book illustrations. The restrained palette and confident line work allowed engravers to translate the composition into print while preserving dramatic contrasts of light and shadow. At just over nine inches tall, the intimate scale suits its intended purpose as a design for the printed page. Now in the collection of the National Gallery of Art, the drawing offers a glimpse into the collaborative world of early-nineteenth-century publishing, where artists like Stothard helped shape how readers visualized the ancient world.

About the Artist

Thomas Stothard · 1755–1834

Thomas Stothard RA (1755–1834) was born on 17 August 1755 at the Black Horse Inn in London's Long Acre, the son of a prosperous publican originally from Stutton near Tadcaster. A delicate child, he was sent at age five to relatives in Yorkshire, attending schools in Acomb, Tadcaster, and later Ilford, Essex, where he honed his drawing skills by copying prints. Following his father's death in 1770,...