Herbert James Draper

victorian-era

Herbert James Draper Paintings 1863 - 1920 Painter, England, Victorian Neoclassicism

Ulysses and the Sirens, 1909

oil on canvas, 177 x 213 cm, 70 x 84 in.

Ferens Art Gallery: Hull City Museums and Art Gallery

Mythological Art

8 from 9

Work Sample

Browse Artists Alphabetically by Name

Choose from these available sizes

painting: DRH009 size: 34x40.8 inches price: $1720 add to cart

Time needed to complete and deliver your order depends on the volume and complexity of the paintings and we keep you informed about the stage of completion throughout the process.

The painter usually needs 3-4 weeks to achieve the highest quality of the reproduction and get it dry for shipping.

Ulysses and the Sirens, 1909 by Herbert James Draper is entirely handmade without use of artificial methods. It is painted on linen canvas with oil paints of the highest French quality.

We are professional graduates of art schools, which gives us the opportunity to reproduce to the highest point of perfection the style and technique of the original old master. With more than 20 years of experience and thousands of satisfied customers our oil reproductions are the best, always bearing the full spirit of the original.

Shipping is worldwide by DHL and can be tracked online. The canvas is delivered unframed, rolled in a postal tube.

Shipping cost is fixed $75, regardless of order total.

Delivery by DHL is fast - up to 3 business days.

ask for another size

✔ Hand painted oil on canvas

✔ Delivered within 3 weeks

✔ Lifetime warranty

shipping information

OIL PAINTING: Ulysses and the Sirens, 1909
Draper's vivid presentation of Ulysses and the Sirens, although painted in the Edwardian era, is nevertheless a classic Victorian image of female predatory sexuality whose origins can be traced back to Etty's sensational depiction of the theme in 1837, a work widely condemned for its combination of voluptuousness and morbidity. Sirens enjoyed a renewed popularity in the late nineteenth century following the publication of Jane Harrison's writings on Homer's Odyssey in 1882 and 1887. The subject was dramatically treated in 1891 by Waterhouse, who had cast his sirens as birds, in contrast to Draper's nubile mermaid. Draper himself had long been fascinated by the idea of the female sea- creature, and precedents for this painting can be found in earlier works of his featuring ichthyoidal hybrids, notably The Sea Maiden (1894), The Foam Spirit (1897) and A Deep Sea Idyll (1902). Ulysses and the Sirens is based on the passage in the Odyssey which describes how, during his return from the Trojan wars, Ulysses was forewarned of the sirens by Circe and took the precaution of having his mariners' ears blocked with beeswax and himself lashed to the mast of his ship to avoid being lured onto rocks by the sirens' melodic song. The theme of manly self- control, emphasized by the brawny physiques and steely expressions of the crew, is played off against the idea of female sexual danger epitomized by the pale glistening bodies of the agile girls who cling seductively to the side of the boat. By painting two of the sirens as young women (devoid of the customary wings, claw or tail), Draper would appear to suggest that the destructive allure of these sea-monsters is in fact a property of "ordinary" women.