When I came across Giampaolo Tomassetti’s oil paintings of scenes from the Mahabharata earlier this week, I was, once again, reminded of the universality of the epic. An Italian artist, illustrator, and sculptor, Tomassetti began his career as a muralist, collaborating with architects on restoration and redecoration of old buildings and frescoes, and making reproductions of classical paintings in European museums. In 1997, he won the Concorso Nazionale del Dipinto Storico (the National Contest for Historic Paintings) with a large oil painting measuring 300-cm x 900-cm, now showcased in the Modica Town Hall, Sicily.