Glaucus Transformed into a Sea God

Glaucus emerges as a sea god, transformed by a mysterious herb. The chapter begins with a fisherman who watches his catch regain life upon a grassy shore. When he tastes the plant himself, an irresistible longing draws him into the water, where the marine divinities receive him.

The adjoining text describes his new appearance with unusual specificity: green beard, flowing hair, broad shoulders, blue-tinged arms and a fish's tail. These details provide historical colour cues for a contemporary interpretation without implying that the monochrome engraving had a lost original palette.

Historical context is adapted from the accompanying commentary by Antoine de La Barre de Beaumarchais. Its interpretations reflect the period in which the book was published.

This edition follows plate 30 in Le Temple des Muses. The complete historical page and its explanatory text remain available in the source record. Source attribution: Bernard Picart and other engravers, Le Temple des Muses (1749 edition). Museum date: 1749 (publication). Source medium: Engraving, inner pictorial scene. Source portfolio: Le Temple des Muses, plate 30.

The inner illustration has been straightened and extracted from its surrounding engraved frame, caption and paper. The comparison shows that extracted engraving beside Surrealium's contemporary colour interpretation.

Surrealium's contemporary AI-assisted colour interpretation takes this print as its starting point. The colours are interpretive choices made for this edition.

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