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Find the closed eyes of the floating head, then follow the strings of the lyre and the flowers up toward the mountain peak.
In the myth, the music of Orpheus lived on after his death through his lyre and his severed head. Redon, who related to the poet’s devotion to his art, returned to the subject several times. Here the pale head floats beside the lyre, with Mount Parnassus rising behind in layers of violet pastel.
pastel on brown paper · Sheet: 68.8 x 56.8 cm · Cleveland Museum of Art · Symbolism
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Details and source
- Museum title
- Orpheus
- Artist
- Odilon Redon (French, 1840–1916)
- Date
- c. 1903–10
- Medium
- pastel on brown paper
- Dimensions
- Sheet: 68.8 x 56.8 cm (27 1/16 x 22 3/8 in.)
- Credit line
- Gift from J. H. Wade
- Image license
- CC0 1.0 · Public domain
- Museum record
- Cleveland Museum of Art
Galler’s rooms and hanging scale are imagined. The image is the museum’s original digital reproduction.