French Paintings Increase Appreciation for The Iliad and The Odyssey

                                    Written by Marni H.
                                             (2005)
     It is well known that The Iliad and The Odyssey are literary masterpieces that will be forever read and analyzed by experts and students alike. Less widespread is the knowledge of the profound impact Homer has had on another art form –French painting and sculpture produced by artists of the prestigious Ecole des Beaux-Arts, - Europe’s leading art school during the seventeenth through the nineteenth centuries.

     A current exhibition at the Dahesh Museum of Art entitled The Legacy of Homer: Four Centuries of Art from the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris expresses the influence of the Homeric epics on French artists through one hundred thirty paintings, sculptures, drawings, and prints.

     The immense detail in all the works featured in this exhibit adds to the intrigue of these magnificent paintings and sculptures. In Andromache Mourning Hector (1783) by Jacques Louis-David, the epic story of the Iliad is carved into the very bed frame on which Hector lies. Equally striking in this painting is the grandiose portrayal of Hector despite, according to the story, his body having been dragged through the streets by Achilles’ chariot.

     In Gustave Boulanger’s Ulysses Recognized by Eurycleia (1818), this touching although seemingly inconvenient moment is painted with such detail that the scar that identifies Odysseus is visible to those who know where to look (or have a museum guide to tell them). Boulanger’s portrayal of Athena staring out the window, bored because her divine knowledge relieves her from the suspense felt by others, and the colorful column and floor, not yet faded to the white color of the ancient remains of today, make the painting even more remarkable.

     Not only is the level of skill in the works amazing, but some of them deliver an appreciated dose of humor as well. Visitors can flip through nineteen framed lithographs which comprise a series entitled Ancient History by Honore Daumier.The lithographs are caricatures of scenes and characters from the Iliad and the Odyssey and practically serve as parodies of the rest of the art in this exhibit. Among these works are The Abduction of Helen showing a hefty Helen carrying off Paris as he lazily smokes a cigarette; Ulysses and Penelope in which Odysseus spends his first night with his wife after being away for so long; and Penelope’s Nights, portraying an exhausted Penelope at her loom with a comical sketch of Odysseus on the wall behind her.

     After viewing the exhibit, it is evident how important Homer and his works were to all forms of art. The visitors’ thoughts are overwhelmed by feelings of respect and appreciation for both the artists and the timeless epics that fueled their works.