From Attic vases to Cy Twombly paintings, this extensive display of some 250 works charts Homer’s influence on the history of art over the course of more than two millennia. The exhibition addresses the mysteries surrounding the Greek poet’s identity, with a number of archaeological objects that evoke the distant epoch in which the poems were composed. It also revisits the key themes of the Iliad and the Odyssey, exploring how the meaning of these myths has changed over the centuries, reimagined by artists such as Rubens, Corot, and Chagall. Find out more from the Louvre-Lens’ website.
Preview the exhibition below | View Apollo’s Art Diary here
Imaginary portrait of Homer (2nd century AD, after an original of around 150 BC), Roman. Photo: Musée du Louvre; dist. © RMN-GP/Thierry Ollivier
Lekythos, depicting a scene of Achilles dragging the corpse of Hector (early 5th century BC), Diosphos Painter. Photo: Musée du Louvre – DAGER © RMN-GP/Hervé Lewandowski
Achilles Slays Hector (1630), Peter Paul Rubens. Musée des Beaux-Arts – Pau; © RMN-GP/Thierry Ollivier
Homer (1841), Jean-Baptiste Auguste Leloir. Photo: © RMN-Grand Palais/Franck Raux
Achilles Mourning the Death of Patroclus (1967), Cy Twombly. Photo: © Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais/Philippe Migeat; © Cy Twombly Foundation
Event website
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