Acis and Galatea - Poussin
Description
The cyclops Polyphemus is in love with the nereid Galatea, who loves the shepherd Acis. While he plays a melancholy tune on the Pan flute, Acis and Galatea frolic out of his sight. The end is tragic. See Ovid, Metamorphoses, XIII, 738sq, quoted by Marino.
Tristan l'Hermite devoted a poem to "Polyphemus in fury" in La Lyre (1641):
I see you, infamous couple, intoxicated with pleasure,
When your secret plots intoxicated me with rage.
Is this how you betray my amorous desire,
And still dare to irritate my courage?
I see you, spare your little leisure,
You'll only do me this last outrage:
This piece of rock that I'm going to choose for you
You will soon complete your work.
Now I've got you, nothing can divert
The just punishment I'm about to give you,
I must grind you to powder with this blow.
So said the Cyclops to two lovers in a trance.
His voice was thunder, and the stone was lightning,
That bruised Galatea, and killed Acys.
(ed. J. P. Chauveau, TLF, Droz, 1977, p. 99)
2. Legs by Sir Hugh Lane, 1918
3. It seems that Poussin was inspired by a painting by Sisto Badalocchio, which we know from the engraving by G. G. Frezza, particularly for the Triton abducting the Nereid on the right. Already Bernard Salomon's engraving set up this division of space for the scene.
Technical Data
Notice #000978
