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Formal Analysis: Circe Entertains Odysseus At A Banquet Circe Entertains Odysseus At A Banquet, a 50½ “ x 63¼” oil painting on canvas, now in the John And Mable Ringling Museum of Art, was completed in 1720 by Italian painter Paolo Panini Giovanni. This piece was completed during a critical period in Giovanni’s career, a time during which his paintings grew more elaborate and independent. (001) This painting is typical of Giovanni’s most noteworthy types of paintings, images that blended elements of classical architecture with mythical and religious scenes. This particular painting is from a series of paintings about the legendary Greek hero, Odysseus. It was taken from a myth in which Hermes frees Odysseus from the island of the sorceress Circe, who had turned his men into swine. (002) In the painting, all eyes are attentively turned towards Odysseus and Circe, who are dining at a small, intimate table framed inside massive classical concentric groin vaults. A celestial being hovers about their conversation. As the court open before them, it reveals more and more people, presumably servants.
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