Portraits of Barry and Burke in the characters of Ulyssess and a companion fleeing from the cave of Polyphemus - Barry, James (Irish painter, printmaker, and lithographer, 1741-1806, active in England) (My University, 2007)
This painting is a complex allegorical work which combines contemporary history, autobiography and classical mythology. On one level it is a double portrait of Barry and the statesman Edmund Burke. On another level it shows the classical hero Ulysses and a companion, who disguised themselves as sheep in order to escape from the cave of the blind giant Polyphemus. On an autobiographical level, it shows the politician Burke cautioning the impetuous artist, whose outspoken comments on the British Government's policies, particularly in relation to the American War of Independence, were to hasten his eventual expulsion from the Royal Academy. - from the Crawford Art Gallery website
Keywords: Ulysses (Greek mythology); Art, Irish; Portrait painting -- 18th century; Self-portraits, Irish; Art and mythology; Allegories; Odysseus (Greek mythology) Art.; Burke, Edmund, 1729-1797; Politics in art; Polyphemus (Greek mythology) Art.; Sheep in art; 18th century