TIBALDI, Pellegrino
(b. 1527, Puria (Valsolda), d. 1596, Milano)

Odysseus and Circe (scene 5)

1550-51
Fresco
Sala di Ulisse, Palazzo Poggi, Bologna

The concluding fresco in the Sala di Ulisse is on the long side of the ceiling above the wall leading to the second Odysseus room, to the Stanza di Ulisse. A view opens onto the vast palace of the sorceress Circe, who transformed Odysseus's companions into animals. Odysseus resisted her magic by means of an herb that Mercury had given him. Mercury is seen at the right, he flies off.