Caliban 1881

"Caliban" is a charcoal drawing created by the French symbolist artist Odilon Redon in 1881. This work depicts the monstrous character Caliban from Shakespeare's The Tempest, a play exploring themes of colonialism and power dynamics. Redon’s masterful use of light and shadow creates a haunting and evocative portrait of this mythical creature. Caliban’s large eyes, small horns, and hairy body are rendered with a sense of both grotesqueness and pathos, prompting viewers to contemplate the complex nature of monstrousness and the potential for empathy even in the face of the seemingly monstrous.