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Ulysses leaving the isle of Circe for Hades

Maker

After
(artist)
1606-1669

After
(artist)
1504-1570

Title

Ulysses leaving the isle of Circe for Hades

Medium

Pen and black ink, grey wash, over traces of graphite, on pink-prepared laid paper, laid down on a historic secondary support, also laid paper, likely a former album page; black chalk offset on verso from D.1948.XX.21.8.2

Dimensions

Height: 21 cm
Width: 32.1 cm

Accession Number

D.1948.XX.21.9.1

Mode of Acquisition

Unknown, gift, 1948

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords




Provenance

James Ludovic Lindsay, 26th Earl of Crawford and 9th Earl of Balcarres (1847-1913) [his bookplate on inside cover]; by descent to David Alexander Robert Lindsay, 28th Earl of Crawford and 11th Earl of Balcarres (1900-1975); by whom presented to The Courtauld, 13 August 1948

Literature

Béguin, Sylvie, Jean Guillaume and Alan Roy, La galerie d’Ulysse à Fontainebleau, Paris, 1985
p. 243, under no. 20

Inscriptions

Watermark: centre: foolscap with five points / three circles stacked in a pyramid (unable to tell if the middle point culminates in a '4' above the circles). Historic support, verso, left centre: crowned fleur-de-lis (narrow shield with straight edges).

Inscription: Recto: on the side of the boat, lower right, black ink, unclear initials in monogram: TvT / 20 / WM [?]; lower margin, black ink: Ulysse aÿant demeuré un an aú palais de circé prend congé d’elle, qui luÿ donne des boucs / noirs pour les sacrifier aux esprits dans le Roÿaume de plúton, où il se prepare d’aller. cela veut dire, que les / voluptés pour charmantes qu’elles soient, aboutissent à la fin à un evenement tragique et funestre. [Ulysses, having spent a year in Circe’s palace, takes leave of her, as she gives him the black goats to sacrifice to the spirits of the kingdom of Pluto, where he is preparing to go. That is to say, that voluptuous pleasures, however charming they may be, will lead to a tragic and disastrous event.]

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