Exhibition: The Shield of Achilleus
Dates: Friday 27th June, Sat 28th June & Sun 29th June, Sat 5th July, Sun 7th July, Sat 2nd August, Sat 6th Sept
Booking: required
Admission: Free
Age restrictions: Kids (10+) must be accompanied by an adult
Access: No disabled access as it’s a heritage vessel
Large groups: welcome by appointment. Please email info@ssrobin.com
Dominique Pinchi lives and works in Venice. In 1977, he founded the French Bookshop and combined his profession with his artistic pursuits. His work, inspired by reflections on fire, echoes his Lorraine origins from the Pays Haut. In addition to numerous exhibitions, he has contributed to the creation of several artists' books.
In 2019, after two and a half years of daily work, he exhibited at Thetis (Arsenal of Venice) the Shield of Achilleus as described by Homer in Book XVIII of the Iliad (verses 487–607). Created by Hephaistos, this mythical artifact is considered the first example of ekphrasis—a vivid, often dramatic, description of a work of art. In ancient Greek, ek-phrasein means “to explain,” and such narrative descriptions are meant to evoke vivid mental images (phantasia).
Although Homer describes a Bronze Age artifact, he integrates features of the Iron Age—his own time—capturing a transition from myth to a more human-centered worldview. Homer’s poetry marks this shift by replacing the mythic with anthropomorphic Olympian deities, stripping mythology of its mystery.
Linked to this evolution is the mysterious cult of the Cabeiri, associated with blacksmiths on the island of Lemnos. This autumnal cult honored Hephaistos: sorcerer, blacksmith, seer, and sculptor. In the Iliad, Hephaistos—the lame son of Zeus and Hera—is married to Charis, the embodiment of harmony and perfection. It is Charis who welcomes Thetis, mother of Achilleus, when she asks Hephaistos to forge new weapons for her son, who is preparing to return to Troy to avenge Patroclus. Among these weapons is the famous shield—a defensive tool, but also a banner through which the warrior proclaims their worldview.
At the center of the five concentric circles composing the shield is the cosmos: sun, moon, constellations, known and unknown lands, and the sea. The second circle portrays a peaceful city where a wedding is celebrated with singing and music, and nearby, a court of three judges deliberates on a murder case. In contrast, another city at war shows a massacre following an ambush.
The third circle features scenes of agriculture: farmers plowing, followed by the harvest, celebrated with music and dance. Nearby, two lions attack a bull, terrifying the dogs meant to guard the herd.
The fourth circle, beside harvesters and salt collectors by the sea, depicts a serene valley where sheep graze near a shepherd’s hut. Further on, a tribute to the iron industry appears, with a mine shaft and various factory buildings.
Finally, the fifth circle shows dancers, musicians, and acrobats, all encircled by the great river Okeanos.
Homer presents a cosmic vision that emphasizes the harmony of all human activities when connected to the natural order represented at the shield’s center. He links celestial bodies—Orion (war), the Pleiades and Hyades (fertility and harvests), and the Great Bear (navigation)—to human life. The river Okeanos, framing the entire scene, suggests that water is life’s fundamental element, a notion preceding even the philosopher Thales.
Throughout the description, harmony is tied to music and dance, echoing the circular form of the shield, centered on the Omphalos. The “law of opposites” permeates the shield’s imagery: from death to rebirth in the labyrinthine dance; from war to peace; from violence to justice; from harvest to replanting. The eternal cycle.
We must remember that this is a society centered on agriculture, animated by pneuma—the vital breath. Hephaistos, the god who created the shield (with whom Homer identifies), was said to have a chest so vast it could contain fire. This breath, the driving force behind creation, symbolizes the pneuma—just as it does in Homer’s poetry.
Another crucial aspect of Homer’s ekphrasis is color: the horns of oxen, the multi-colored clothing of dancers and musicians, the red hues of war and wine harvests, the polished stone where judges sit—all carry symbolic weight. It is no coincidence that Vasari, following Cicero, Quintilian, and Petrarch, declared Homer the greatest painter of antiquity. Through poetry—the first and highest of the arts—Homer achieved a harmonious representation of human existence.
Gold, silver, and bronze in the shield also point to metallurgy’s centrality in Homer’s world. These materials, reflecting light in different ways, give the shield a dual visual impact: blinding brilliance meant to terrify the enemy and poetic light as a symbol of warrior spirit. This dual luminosity mirrors the work’s structure, grounded in the tension between death and rebirth. In this dialectic, war restores order, violence is transformed, and the cycle of life resumes.
P.S. The weapons of Achilleus, crafted by Hephaistos, carried divine energy and destiny. After Achilleus's death, Ajax the Telamonian claimed the arms, but they were awarded instead to cunning Odysseus, gifted with metis (cleverness). Enraged, Ajax committed suicide. On his voyage back to Ithaca, Odysseus brought the shield with him. When he blinded Polyphemus, Poseidon's son, on a Sicilian island, he identified himself as Outis (“Nobody”). Poseidon, recognizing the trick, sent a massive wave to punish him. Thus, the shield of Achilleus, son of Thetis and Peleus, hero of the Trojan War, was ultimately carried back by the tides to his tomb at Hissarlik—ancient Troy.
The shield is now on display aboard the SS Robin. Music is composed by Alex Grillo, much of the text is by Giancarlo Vianello, and the exhibition video is by Daniela Manzolli.
With thanks to the following:
SS Robin Trust
SS Robin restoration team: Steve, Nathan, Ray & Will.
Urban Space Management
Project Design & Director Peter Avery
Technical design Nigel Prabhavalkar Parallel Notion
STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Maths ) education team Derek Mann & The Company of Watermen & Lightermen Richard Mallett Jules Wilkinson Claudia Myatt Amanda Whittle Jonathan Pix
Photography: Simon Richards
Film Itch Films: Charlie & Lucy Paul
Faraday School years 4,5 & 6 plus Angel Zatorsky & Bonyo Dimitrov .
A 1F Harbour project
