TitleUlysses and Nausicaa
Artist
(Arthur) Henry Prellwitz
(1865 - 1940)
Daten.d.
MediumOil on gesso panel
DimensionsUnframed: 24 × 36 in.
Framed: 32 1/2 × 42 1/2 × 1 3/4 in.
SignedSigned lower right: "Henry Prellwitz"
SubmissionNA diploma presentation, June 3, 1912
Credit LineNational Academy of Design, New York, NY
Object number1030-P
Label TextUlysses and Nausicaa is derived from Homer's narrative beginning of the sixth book of The Odyssey, which finds Ulysses shipwrecked on the island of the Phaecians. Following a dream sent by Minerva, Nausicaa, the daughter of Alcinous, King of the Phaecians, and her attendants perform chores along the shore, to prepare for her forthcoming marriage. Prellwitz has chosen to depict the dramatic moment when Nausicaa first sights the naked Ulysses, who protects his body with a tree branch. Her attendants recoil, but Nausicaa, endowed with courage and strength by Minerva, the goddess of wisdom, neither cowers nor flees at the sight of Ulysses. Eventaully, Nausicaa brings Ulysses to the palace, where he is clothed and fed. Although she desires him, Ulysses wishes to return to his wife Penelope. The Phaecians provide Ulysses with the means to return to his home in Ithaca, thus protecting his marital fidelity.
One of the Prellwitz's best-known works, Ulysses andÿNausicaa is a cautionary painting, meant to reinforce the traditional values of the home and family. The theme must have been of particular appeal during the early years of the twentieth century, when the women challenged their roles in society. Prellwitz suggests a virtuous conformity for all women, especially for the bold new woman, who resembled Nausicaa in her fearlessness.
