J.W. Waterhouse

Circe

Date: 1911
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size: 74 x 109 cm

Courtesy Peter Nahum at The Leicester Galleries

The back of the canvas is inscribed 'Circe'. The painting is also known as 'The Sorceress'.

"These metaphysics of magicians And necromantic books are heavenly: Lines, circles, letters and characters: Ay, these are those that Faustus most desires. O, what a world of profit and delight, Of power, of honour, of omnipotence Is promised to the studious artisan! All things that move between the quiet poles Shall be at my command: emperors and kings Are but obeyed in their several provinces Nor can they raise the wind nor rend the clouds; But his dominion that exceeds in this Stretcheth as far as doth the mind of man. A sound magician is a mighty god: Here, Faustus, try thy brains to gain a deity."
Quoted from Faust by Christopher Marlowe.