Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00009252Hermes Ordering Calypso to Release Odysseus
About the Artwork
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.
Provenance
Until 1946: Thomas Wodehouse Legh, 2nd Baron Newton [1857-1942], Cheshire, upon his death, probably held in trust by the estate 1946: (Sale, Sotheby’s London, July 17, 1946, lot 63, sold to Julius Singer)1 1946-: (Julius Singer, London, probably sold to a Rio de Janeiro private collector) Until 1991: Private collection, Rio de Janeiro 1991: (Christie’s, New York, sale, Oct. 9, 1991, lot 195, sold to Johnny van Haeften, Ltd.) 1991-1992: (Johnny van Haeften, Ltd., London, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) 1992-: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio
Exhibition history
Selected Acquisitions. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 9-April 11, 1993).
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Gerard de Lairesse (Flemish, 1641–1711)
- Date
- c. 1670
- Medium
- 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.)
- Type
- Painting
- Classification
- Painting
- Department
- European Painting and Sculpture
- Credit line
- Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund
- Accession no.
- 1992.2
More by Gerard de Lairesse in museum collections
Open-access museum record · AT-00009252
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