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Homer's Iliad, Homer's Odyssey, Aeschylus's Tragedies and les Argonautes

A work made of engravings in black on cream laid paper, bound with cardboard covers covered in paper, with leather spine and corners, and decorative end papers with block printing in blue.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of engravings in black on cream laid paper, bound with cardboard covers covered in paper, with leather spine and corners, and decorative end papers with block printing in blue.

Date:

1793/1810 (Iliad, 2nd ed, published 1793; Odyssey, published 1793; Tragedies, published 1795; Les argonautes, 1799; 3rd ed, published 1807/10)

Artist:

Tommaso Piroli (Italian, 1750-1824), after John Flaxman (English, 1755-1826), Iliad, Odyssey and Tragedies
Joseph Anton Koch (German, 1768-1839), after Asmus Jakob Carstens (German, 1754-1798), Les Argonautes

About this artwork

Flaxman pioneered a style of drawing, inspired by Greek vase painting, that rejected perspective and modeling in favor of pure line. With this, he meant to rediscover a lost simplicity and purity in art.
In the 1790s, Flaxman produced a series of illustrations made into engravings for the works of Homer, Aeschylus, and Dante. These proved enormously influential, earning the sculptor lasting fame.
Little of the texts was included in these editions, as Flaxman set out to tell the story through images.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Prints and Drawings

Artist

Tommaso Piroli

Title

Homer's Iliad, Homer's Odyssey, Aeschylus's Tragedies and les Argonautes

Place

Italy (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1793–1810

Medium

Engravings in black on cream laid paper, bound with cardboard covers covered in paper, with leather spine and corners, and decorative end papers with block printing in blue

Dimensions

Book binding: 29.6 × 43.7 × 4 cm (11 11/16 × 17 1/4 × 1 5/8 in.)

Credit Line

John H. Wrenn Memorial Collection

Reference Number

2003.256

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/181338/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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