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Odysseus and Polyphemus
Arnold Böcklin (Swiss, 1827–1901)
Swiss
1896
Medium/Technique
Oil and tempera on panel
Dimensions
66 x 150 cm (26 x 59 1/16 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase with funds by exchange from the Gift of Laurence K. and Lorna J. Marshall
Accession Number2012.626
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsPaintings
Böcklin’s training as a landscape painter shines through in this unconventional interpretation of an episode from the ancient Greek epic, the Odyssey. Set on the island of the Cyclopes—one-eyed, ill-tempered giants—this dramatic scene finds the escaping hero Odysseus calling back to the shore, taunting the Cyclops Polyphemus, who heaves a boulder after the boat. Playing up strange, grotesque, and even ridiculous elements of such stories, Böcklin conjured a pre-classical world governed by violence and lust, while giving it a plausible setting rooted in naturalistic observation.
ProvenanceBy 1897, Adolf von der Mühll-Bachofen (b. 1850 – d. 1909), Basel; by descent to his widow, Maria Von der Mühll-Bachofen (b. 1855 – d. 1925) and, until at least 1951, their daughter, Georgine Fürstenberger-Von der Mühll (b. 1884), Basel. 1968, sold by the Galerie Schulthess, Basel, to a private collection, Arlesheim (near Basel), Switzerland; until at least 1977, remained in this private collection. 1999, acquired in London by a private European collector; December 1, 2005, anonymous (European private collector) sale, Tajan, Paris, lot 7, bought in; June 11, 2012, anonymous (European private collector) sale, Sotheby’s, London, lot 8, bought in; 2012, sold from this private collection, through Sotheby’s, London, to the MFA. (Accession Date: October 24, 2012)