Lycaon Transformed into a Wolf

A royal banquet becomes the moment of Lycaon's transformation into a wolf. The chapter places the episode in an age when hospitality, trust and restraint have collapsed. Jupiter discovers the king's monstrous test of his divinity, destroys the palace and changes its fleeing ruler into the animal that mirrors his cruelty.

The text stresses what remains recognisable after the transformation: the fierce gaze, grey hair and violent character. The lavish interior makes the rupture more disturbing, setting the emergence of the beast amid the outward forms of civilisation.

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 17 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 17.

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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