Odysseue und die Sirenen (Odysseus and the Sirens)
1896
Medium
lithograph printed in color with gold on chine collé on laid paper
Dimensions
image: 14.92 × 27.94 cm (5 7/8 × 11 in.) sheet: 22.86 × 37.78 cm (9 × 14 7/8 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Ruth and Jacob Kainen Memorial Acquisition Fund
Accession Number
2021.69.3
Art Historical Context
Otto Greiner’s 1896 lithograph *Odysseus and the Sirens* captures the dramatic moment from Homer’s *Odyssey* when the hero sails past the enchanting yet deadly sirens. Bound to the mast of his ship, Odysseus resists their song while his crew, ears plugged with wax, rows steadily onward. The compact horizontal composition emphasizes both the tension of the encounter and the vastness of the sea. Printed in luminous color with touches of gold on chine collé—a delicate sheet of paper mounted onto a sturdier support—the work showcases the refined possibilities of late-nineteenth-century lithograph...