Hermes Ordering Calypso to Release Odysseus
1670
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
1670
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
You see a god in a red cape diving toward a rocky shore where a woman clutches a man in a blue robe. This is Hermes delivering the gods’ order to Calypso: let Odysseus go. The story comes from Homer’s *Odyssey*, but the artist swapped the usual wild island for a tidy Dutch-looking grotto—columns, urns, and all. De Lairesse liked clean lines and balanced scenes, almost like a stage set. If you like this kind of orderly myth scene, look up the subject: Netherlands.
