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23/08/2026
[MUSEUM SALE]
With the renewed interest in Greek mythology and Homer’s Odyssey following the recent release of Christopher Nolan’s epic, it seems fitting that this drawing has recently found a permanent home at the Château de Fontainebleau
The sheet, which was done after a fresco by Primaticcio and Niccolo Dell’Abate in the Galerie d’Ulysse at Fontainebleau by the Antwerp artist Theodoor van Thulden in the early 1630’s, depicts the return of Odysseus to Ithaca. Kissing the ground of his homeland, our hero is approached by the wily goddess Athena, who points him towards the hut of his old friend, the swine herd Eumaios.
Van Thulden drew copies of all 58 frescoes in the Galerie, which he subsequently published as “Les Travaux d’Ulysse” in Paris in 1633. There are very few extant drawings from the series, though there is one in the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, CA, depicting Odysseus regaling Penelope with the stories of his adventures (inv./cat.nr E.B. Crocker Collection 1871.940).
Like Odysseus, our drawing has taken a while to come home. As the Galerie d’Ulysse was demolished in 1739, it is wonderful to see a memento of this lost masterpiece of art history return to the place where it was created. We congratulate the museum and its curators on this beautiful purchase.
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Theodoor van Thulden (‘s-Hertogenbosch 1606 - 1669)
“The Return of Odysseus to Ithaca”
black chalk on paper
198 x 250 mm
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Theodoor van Thulden, after Primaticcio
“The Return of Odysseus to Ithaca”
etching and engraving
191 x 254 mm (plate)
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, object no. RP-P-OB-66.762
Theodoor van Thulden
“Ulysses regaling his adventures to Penelope”
black chalk
192 x 249 mm
Crocker Art Museum, inv./cat.nr E.B. Crocker Collection 1871.940.
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