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Between the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, especially in Florence, numerous subjects depicted on wedding chests (cassoni) appear to reflect a growing diffusion of Homeric poems—translated into Latin roughly a century earlier—even among urban elites not directly involved in humanistic culture. This article examines the actual degree of dependence of these paintings on Homer, while also taking into account the contemporary circulation of the vibrant matière de Troie tradition derived from Dictys and Dares. The findings highlight diverging trajectories for the Iliad and the Odyssey: the former remains overshadowed by the dominant Late Antique-derived matière de Troie, whereas the latter is swiftly codified in painting thanks to the pivotal influence of Boccaccio’s Genealogie deorum gentilium. This preliminary inquiry points to a promising direction for reassessing the concrete reception of the Iliad and the Odyssey at a crucial juncture in the development of Italian Humanism.
