An Nguyen

1/19/15
Period 2
Through the Eyes of Hondius and Locatelli

Mercury and Argos, Abraham Hondius, 1691

Mercury and Argus, Andrea Locatelli, 1741

The paintings above depict the scene in which Hermes puts Argus to sleep before killing
him and freeing Io, who had been transformed into a cow. Zeus, who was married to Hera, was
having an affair with Io and turned her into a cow to help her hide from Hera's wrath. However,
Hera knew the cow was actually the beautiful maiden, so she told Zeus to give her the cow to
prove that it was not Io. She assigned Argus, who supposedly had many eyes, to watch over the
cow at all times, so Zeus sent Hermes to lull the guard to sleep and set Io free.
The colors used by Hondius are neutral besides the wings and clothing of Hermes. The
contrast of the red against the rest of the scene as well as the brightness of his face compared to
Argus' half-darkened face portrays Hermes as the main focus of the painting. Hermes looks just
as I imagined him besides the fact that in my mind he was significantly smaller than Argus,
almost as if he was a midget. In addition, Argus is illustrated as a normal man instead of a
creature with many eyes, which is probably because the painting was based off a different

version of the story. This is apparent in the title of the painting, also, where the Latin name for
Hermes (Mercury) was used. The dark, neutral colors paint the scene as grim and unfavorable,
and the red on Hermes paints him as malevolent. The artist might have interpreted the myth this
way because, since Hermes works in favor of Zeus even though Zeus was cheating on Hera, he
sees Hermes as evil. In other words, Hondius is siding with Hera and sees Zeus as the antagonist.
The multiple sets of wings on Hermes helps the audience understand which character is the
painting and recognize more easily what story is being portrayed. The wings represent his ability
to act quickly and his cunning mind. Being the gods' messenger, he must be able to quickly move
between the world of the gods and the world of the mortals. Hondius might have chosen this
scene to paint because he felt as though he was in a similar situation in life and wanted to express
his hateful feelings. Maybe his wife was having an affair with another man, and even though he
was trying to stop the affair, someone else was defending the wife and her lover. Although, from
the research I did on the painter, it is clear that Hondius enjoyed painting animals, landscapes,
and scenes from mythology, so it is more likely that he simply wanted to paint a combination of
those three things.
Because the scenery in the second painting is painted with beautiful blues and greens, the
colors Locatelli used portray the scene as peaceful. Each character is painted in a relaxed pose,
which adds to the peaceful effect. Like Hondius' painting, Hermes is larger than I imagined, and
Argus only has two eyes even though the Greek myth describes him as having many eyes.
Locatelli also used the Latin name of Hermes in the title of the painting, meaning that his
painting was most likely based off of the same version of the myth that Hondius used. Locatelli
most likely interpreted the scene as beautiful because he saw the love between Io and Zeus as
more important than Zeus' relationship with Hera. Maybe he did not approve of Hera's actions in
the past and thought that Zeus deserved to love someone better. The painting is less focused on

Hermes and Argus than it is on the actual scenery, which makes the peaceful vibe even stronger
because it is easier to portray serenity with landscapes than with people. The artist painted a herd
of cows to the left of the painting. Because she was standing away from the herd very alert while
the rest were lounging in the sunlight, it is symbolized that Io was unique from the rest. Similar
to Honius, Locatelli could have chosen Hermes and Argus as the subjects of his painting because
he thought that his point in life was parallel to the situation described in the myth. However,
based on my research on his life, he had experience painting landscapes and studied painting
human figures, so he most likely wanted to paint a combination of the two. Hondius also studied
with Monsu Alto, who painted coastal views, which might provide an explanation for the
waterfall he decided to paint in the background.
Both Hondius and Locatelli painted the same people, animals, and landscape but with
completely opposite moods. Hondius painting has a depressed, almost angry tone whereas
Locatelli paints the scene as calm and tranquil. The colors used by the painters contribute the
most to the differing ambiences, but the way Hondius focused on the people while Locatelli
focused on the scenery added to the effect. It is interesting how the artists both painted a brown
and white dog near Argus feet in the foreground even though it had no significance in the story,
yet the cow, which represented Io, was placed in the background. The placement of Io in
comparison to the other characters could be portraying how Io had no interest in watching Argus
death and simply was ready to leave as soon as possible. The paintings can be seen as coming
from the points of view of Hera and Zeus. Hondius portrays Heras point of view in that he
paints the fact that Hermes is ruining Heras plan to end her husbands affair as dark and
detrimental; on the other hand, Locatelli paints from Zeus point of view by seeing the situation
as light and happy because Hermes is saving the woman Zeus loves.