Jan Harmensz. Muller

This engraving after a painting by the mannerist artist Cornelis Cornelisz. van Haarlem exhibits Muller’s tendency toward exaggeration of both the technical possibilities of the engraved line, and of form. A far cry from the ordered hatching at the edges of forms found in prints by earlier engravers, this image utilizes few straight lines: observe the concentric circles that form the back of the central nude figure of Ulysses.

The engraving depicts a scene from Homer’s Odyssey when Ulysses is challenged to a fight by the much younger Irus outside of his home. Ulysses easily wins the fight, which takes place in front of the inhabitants of Ithaca. Here the victorious Ulysses stands above the enormous, and unconscious, body of Irus in front of a crowd of onlookers populated with superfluous objects, such as a basket and a baby, typical of Cornelisz. van Haarlem’s work.
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