The Argonauts and the Symplegades

The Argo passes between the clashing rocks of the Symplegades. The chapter describes the helmsman's fear, Orpheus's silenced lyre and a dove sent ahead to test the passage. The crew's desperate effort succeeds with divine help, after which the rocks remain fixed.

The explanatory text also offers a navigational reading: two islands appear joined from a distance, and a small scouting boat may lie behind the story of the dove. The engraving preserves the mythic version, compressing ship, figures, water and rock into a passage where every movement matters.

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 31 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 31.

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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