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Pallas Athena and the Herdsman’s Dogs

Briton Riviere (British, London 1840–1920 London)

Date: 1876 Medium: Oil on canvas

When exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1876, the present painting was accompanied by the following verses from book 16 of the Odyssey: “Then drew she nigh, in shape a stately dame, / Graced with all noble gifts of womanhood: / None save Odysseus saw her; for to few / Of mortal birth the gods reveal themselves. / But the dogs knew her coming, and with whine / And whimpering crouched aloof.”

The Metropolitan Museum of Art