{"product_id":"frederick-richard-pickersgill-ra-shipwrecked-man-siren-with-lyre-original-mid-19th-century-watercolour-painting-kd-479","title":"Frederick Richard Pickersgill RA, Shipwrecked Man \u0026 Siren with Lyre – Mid-19th-century watercolour painting","description":"\u003cp\u003eAn original mid-19th-century watercolour painting – Frederick Richard Pickersgill RA, Shipwrecked Man \u0026amp; Siren with Lyre.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis wonderful watercolour by Frederick Richard Pickersgill RA (1820–1900) shows a male figure hunched on coastal rocks, shielding himself from a sensuous Siren figure playing a lyre.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn Greek mythology, Sirens were beautiful yet dangerous creatures, who lure sailors to their death with their magnificent voices. Famously in Homer's Odyssey, Circe warns Odysseus about the Sirens, and how to escape them: as his ship approaches the island of the Sirens, his crew puts beeswax into their ears, but Odysseus, wanting to listen, instructs his men to tie him to the mast of the ship. As the Sirens sing with their enchanting voice Odysseus begs his men to set him free, but they only tie him tighter, thereby escaping their deadly temptation.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrederick Richard Pickersgill was a painter and illustrator who often depicted scenes drawn from history, mythology and literature, such as Shakespeare, Spenser and Milton. Pickersgill's stranded figure in the present drawing likely alludes to Homer's epic, whilst the man's costume suggests an Elizabethan literary source, such as Spenser's Faerie Queene.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe composition and style of execution of the drawing are distinctly redolent of the work of William Blake (1757–1827): the strong outlines in brown ink, delineating elegant contours and muscular, elongated limbs; and the ethereal siren hovering above the sharply angled profile of the man, creating an other-worldly and emotionally charged dynamic. Blake used a similar composition in works such as Visions of the Daughters of Albion, 1793, and Pity, c.1795. Blake was also involved in engraving the illustrations by John Flaxman RA (1755–1826) for The Odyssey of Homer, 1793.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Odyssey was also a significant inspiration for artists of the Pre-Raphaelite movement, with which Pickersgill was associated, including Ulysses and the Sirens, 1891 and Circe Offering the Cup to Ulysses, 1891 by John William Waterhouse (1849–1917).\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn watercolour with pen and brown ink, graphite underdrawing and white bodycolour highlights. On grey paper.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eProvenance: Campbell Wilson, Victorian and Modern British Pictures (on accompanying historical label).\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Somerset \u0026 Wood","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54290498027849,"sku":"KD-479","price":567.95,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0930\/4306\/5161\/files\/KD-479.jpg?v=1777476499","url":"https:\/\/somersetandwood.com\/it-eu\/products\/frederick-richard-pickersgill-ra-shipwrecked-man-siren-with-lyre-original-mid-19th-century-watercolour-painting-kd-479","provider":"Somerset \u0026 Wood Fine Art","version":"1.0","type":"link"}