Hermes Ordering Calypso to Release Odysseus (c. 1670): Art, History and Details

Hermes Ordering Calypso to Release Odysseus (c. 1670) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Gerard de Lairesse (Flemish, 1641–1711).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

The Greek goddess Calypso held the hero Odysseus captive for seven years, preventing his return home from the Trojan War. Despite Calypso’s charms and the luxurious surroundings, Odysseus longed for his home and family, so the Olympian gods finally allowed his freedom. Here, the god Hermes swoops down to free Odysseus from Calypso’s embrace. De Lairesse, popularly known as the “Dutch Poussin,” introduced to the Netherlands a classicizing style influenced by artists of the French Academy.

Object facts

• Title: Hermes Ordering Calypso to Release Odysseus
• Date: c. 1670
• Creator attribution: Gerard de Lairesse (Flemish, 1641–1711)
• Culture: Netherlands
• Type: Painting
• Technique: oil on canvas
• Dimensions: Framed: 118.5 x 140 x 9 cm (46 5/8 x 55 1/8 x 3 9/16 in.); Unframed: 91.4 x 113.7 cm (36 x 44 3/4 in.)
• Collection: P - Netherlandish-Dutch
• Department: European Painting and Sculpture
• Accession number: 1992.2

A detail from the museum

Calypso, reclining on her bed, looks at us with the same charming smile she used on Odysseus.

Collection credit

Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Johnny van Haeften, email to Victoria Sears Goldman, Jan. 16, 2014, in CMA curatorial file.
• Johnny van Haeften, email to Victoria Sears Goldman, Jan. 16, 2014, in CMA curatorial file.
• Jeff Pilkington, email to Victoria Sears Goldman, June 3, 2013, in CMA curatorial file.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.