Gustave Moreau, Galatea
2. Gustave Moreau, Galatea, c.1896, ink, tempera, gouache and watercolour on board, 37.9 x 27 cm, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid.
Alternative versions of the Greek myth involving Galatea and the cyclops Polyphemus appear in Ovid’s ‘Metamorphoses’, Homer’s 'The Odyssey’ and Theocritus’s Idylls. I believe the basic narrative is that Polyphemus was madly in love with the sea-nymph Galatea, though there are variations on his approach. In Moreau’s depictions, the cyclops is shown as a voyeur, watching the beautiful nymph with an almost menacing expression, though in the later version, Polyphemus becomes a more prominent part of the composition.
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