The Iliad and the Odyssey

Art Historical Context

This 1834 edition of Homer’s *Iliad and the Odyssey* brings together two of the Western world’s foundational epics in a compact, illustrated volume. Published in London, the book features line engravings that translate the spare, elegant outline drawings of British neoclassical artist John Flaxman into print. Flaxman’s designs, originally created in the late eighteenth century, had already become celebrated for their clarity and classical restraint; engraver Henry Moses rendered them with crisp precision, allowing the dramatic encounters of gods, heroes, and mortals to unfold across the page. ...