Bernard Picart

The Argonauts Pass the Symplegades

Bernard Picart's The Argonauts Pass the Symplegades, an original etching and engraving, Temple of the Muses.

Orpheus, the Argonauts and the Symplegades: Jason and the Argonauts experienced many challenges in pursuit of the golden fleece (see, The Golden Fleece Won by Jason). Orpheus was an invaluable member of the Argonauts: his beautiful singing made their ship, the Argo, descend to the sea of its own volition and his voice also lulled the fierce dragon guarding the fleece to fall asleep.

One challenge the Argonauts faced was to pass the Symplegades, also known as the Cyanean Rocks. These were two movable rocks at the entrance of the Euxine, where the Bosphorus and the Black Sea meet. These large rocks closed together whenever a ship attempted to pass between them. Orpheus, with his gift of music (seen here at the bow of the Argo) arrested the motion of these dangerous rocks and thus, the Argonauts Pass the Symplegades.

This original engraving and etching was both designed and engraved by Bernard Picart and originates from the Temple of the Muses (Neu-Erofneer Musen-Tempel), dealing with Greek mythology. This impression of The Argonauts Pass the Symplegades hails from the 1754 edition, published in both Amsterdam and Leipzig.

View other original engravings created by Bernard Picart for "The Temple of the Muses".

Bernard Picart & " The Temple of the Muses"
01.-	Achelous in the Shape of a Bull, is Vanquished by Hercules by Bernard Picart by Bernard Picart	Sold	27.-	Oeneus, King of Calydon, Having Neglected Diana in a Sacrifice, is Punished for his Impiety by Bernard Picart	Sold
02.-	Actaeon Turned into a Stag, and Devoured by his Dogs by Bernard Picart	Available	28.-	Orpheus Leading Eurydice out of Hell, Looks Back upon Her, and Loses Her Forever by Bernard Picart	Available
03.-	Alcyone and Ceyx Transformed into Halcyons by Bernard Picart	Available	29.-	Pan Pursues Syrinx: She is Metamorphosed into a Reed by Bernard Picart	Sold
04.-	Amphion Builds the Walls of Thebes by the Music of his Lyre by Bernard Picart	Sold	30.-	Pandora's Box by Bernard Picart	Sold
05.-	Arethusa Pursued by Alpheus, and Turned to a Fountain by Bernard Picart	Available	31.-	Penelope's Web by Bernard Picart	Available
06.-	Arion Preserved by a Dolphin by Bernard Picart	Sold	32.-	Perseus Cuts off Medusa's Head by Bernard Picart	Available
07.-	Atlas Supports the Heavens on his Shoulders by Bernard Picart	Sold	33.-	Perseus Delivers Andromeda by Bernard Picart	Available
08.-	Bellerophon Fights the Chimaera by Bernard Picart	Available	34.-	Phaeton Struck Down by Jupiter's Thunder by Bernard Picart	Available
09.-	Cassandra Foretelles the Trojans their Fate, and is not Hearkened To by Bernard Picart	Sold	35.-	Prometheus Tortured by a Vulture by Bernard Picart	Sold
10.-	Castor and Pollux, or the Twins by Bernard Picart	Available	36.-	Pygmalion is Enamored with a Statue he had Made: and Venus at his Prayer Transforms it into a Woman by Bernard Picart	Available
11.-	Chaos by Bernard Picart	Sold	37.-	Salmacis and Hermaphroditus United in one Body by Bernard Picart	Available
12.-	Clytia Changed into a Turnesole (Heliotrope) by Bernard Picart	Sold	38.-	Semele is Consumed by Jupiter's Thunder by Bernard Picart	Sold
13.-	Cygnus Transformed to a Swan and Phaeton's Sisters into Poplars by Bernard Picart	Sold	39.-	Sisyphus's Stone by Bernard Picart	Sold
14.-	Daphne Pursued by Apollo, and Turned to a Laurel by Bernard Picart	Sold	40.-	Tantalus's Torment by Bernard Picart	Sold
15.-	Deucalion and Pyrrha Repeople the World by Throwing Stones Behind Them by Bernard Picart	Sold	41.-	The Argonauts Pass the Symplegades by Bernard Picart	Sold
16.-	Enceladus Buried under Mount Aetna (Etna) by Bernard Picart	Available	42.-	The Danaids Condemned to Fill Bored Vessels with Water by Bernard Picart	Available
17.-	Glaucus Changed into a Sea-God by Bernard Picart	Available	43.-	The Death of Hercules by Bernard Picart	Sold
18.-	Hell (Tartarus) by Bernard Picart	Available	44.-	The Deluge by Bernard Picart	Sold
19.-	Hercules's Combat with the Hydra by Bernard Picart	Available	45.-	The Dioscuri, or Castor and Pollux, the Guardians of Mariners by Bernard Picart	Sold
20.-	Ixion's Wheel by Bernard Picart	Available	46.-	The Fall of Icarus by Bernard Picart	Sold
21.-	Io Changed into a Cow: Mercury Cuts off Argus's Head by Bernard Picart	Available	47.-	The Giants Attempt to Scale Heaven by Piling Mountains upon One Another by Bernard Picart	Available
22.-	Leucothoe is Seduced by Apollo in the Shape of Eurynome by Bernard Picart	Available	48.-	The Golden Fleece Won by Jason by Bernard Picart	Sold
23.-	Lycaon Metamorphosed into a Wolf by Bernard Picart	Available	49.-	The Moon and Endymion by Bernard Picart	Sold
24.-	Meleager Presents the Boar's Head to Atalanta by Bernard Picart	Sold	50.-	The Palladium by Bernard Picart	Available
25.-	Memnon's Statue by Bernard Picart	Available	51.-	Tithonus, Aurora's Husband, Turned into a Grass-Hopper by Bernard Picart	Sold
26.-	Narcissus is Changed into a Flower by Bernard Picart	Sold	52.-	Ulysses and his Companions Avoid the Charms of the Sirens by Bernard Picart	Available

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Title:	The Argonauts Pass the Symplegades
Artist:	Picart, Bernard (Paris, 1673 - Amsterdam, 1733)
Date:	1733 (1754 Edition)
Medium:	Original Etching and Engraving
Publisher:	Chatelain, Amsterdam and Leipzig
Note:	Bernard Picart: An exceptional French eighteenth century engraver, Bernard Picart received his artistic education from his father, Etienne (1632-1721), and from Le Brun and Jouvenet at the Royal Academy. To say that Bernard Picart's considerable talents developed rapidly would be an understatement: at the age of sixteen he gained honors at the Academy of Paris. He moved permanently to Amsterdam in 1710. At this time this city was a major center for both publishing and printmaking and for the following two decades Bernard Picart's fine work placed him as the successor to Romeyn de Hooghe.
	Picart excelled chiefly in the fields of portraiture, ornamental designs and mythological and religious subjects, both after the old masters and upon his own creation. In the former category he was commissioned for portraits of Philip, Duke of Orleans, Eugene Francois, Prince of Savoy, Don Luis, Prince of the Asturias, Cardinal Jules Mazarin, and Kings Charles I, Charles II, James II, William III and George I. As an ornamental engraver, Picart designed and engraved plates for numerous books. He also contributed large plates to such famous sets as Les Impostures Innocentes (seventy-eight large engravings in imitation of old master engravers), the historically important Ceremonies Religieuses (1723-1743), and The Temple of the Muses ("Neu-Erofneer Musen-Tempel").
	This beautiful engraving entitled The Argonauts Pass the Symplegades, originates from The Temple of the Muses, a portfolio of sixty plates both designed and engraved by Bernard Picart. (The artist also created the separately engraved, ornamental borders surrounding each image.) Obviously, the work involved in constructing these large and complex works of art was time consuming and the entire project took all of three years to complete. The completed set was published in Amsterdam by Chatelain in 1733, the year of Bernard Picart's death. Due to the popularity of these fine engravings dealing with significant events in Greek mythology, several subsequent editions were published. This original Bernard Picart engraving hails from the 1754 edition, published in both Amsterdam and Leipzig.
Raisonne:	G. K. Nagler, Neues Allgemeines Kunstler-Lexicon, Schwarzenberg & Schumann, Leipzig, Vol. 12, p. 416.
Source:	The Temple of the Muses
Size:	13 1/2 X 10 (Sizes in inches are approximate, height preceding width of plate-mark or image.)
	Matted with 100% Archival Materials
Condition:	Printed upon eighteenth century hand-made, laid paper and with full margins as published in Amsterdam on the above date. Containing one small rust spot in the sky along the upper left margin, else a strongly printed example bearing all the fine lines and tonal values of an early impression and in very good condition throughout. Altogether The Argonauts Pass the Symplegades represents a superb, original example of the engraved art of Bernard Picart from his famous Temple of the Muses.
Price:	Sold - The price is no longer available.
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