Polyphemus

Sebastiano del Piombo painted his Polyphemus around 1512 as part of the fresco decoration of the Villa Farnesina, Agostino Chigi's magnificent Roman villa, alongside Raphael's Galatea. Polyphemus — the one-eyed Cyclops of Homer's Odyssey — was depicted in his pastoral mode, singing to the sea nymph Galatea across the water, an image of unrequited love rendered in the grand manner of classical myth. Working alongside Raphael on the same villa's loggia was a direct competitive challenge; Sebastiano's Polyphemus, compared to Raphael's nearby Galatea, demonstrates both his ability to compete at the highest level and his more monumental, Michelangelesque approach to the heroic nude figure.

The monumental figure combines Venetian colorism from Sebastiano's training under Bellini with the sculptural form he absorbed from Michelangelo in Rome, a synthesis that defines his mature style.