Art Institute of Chicago

Calypso Watches Telemachus with Cupid on His Knee, While Mentor Watches in Anger, from The Adventures of Telemachus, Book 7

Bartolomeo Pinelli

Date

1808

Medium

Pen and black ink, with brush and brown and gray wash, over traces of black chalk on ivory laid paper, laid down on board

Culture

Italy

Department

Prints and Drawings

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

These twelve drawings depict scenes from the French novel The Adventures of Telemachus (Les aventures de Télémaque) by François Fénelon. First published in 1699, it was one of the most popular books of the 1700s and 1800s. Telemachus is the son of Ulysses from Homer’s Odyssey , the first four books of which describe the hero’s search for his father. Fénelon invented further adventures for Telemachus, in which he undergoes many trials while accompanied by his tutor, Mentor, who is actually the goddess Minerva (the embodiment of wisdom) in human disguise. A scathing critique of autocratic government and a diatribe against war, the book denounces luxury and decadence and calls for the simplicity and equality Fénelon believed ancient Greece best exemplified. Pinelli illustrated scenes from books 1–8 and one scene from book 18, and probably planned to illustrate more from the 24 books of the text. Throughout, he celebrates the heroic nude, displaying a deep knowledge of ancient Roman sculpture. His style, influenced by Jacques-Louis David and John Flaxman, is characterized by bold, almost cartoonish contours, monochromatic washes, and frieze-like arrangements of figures. To trick Telemachus into remaining with Calypso and giving up his search for his father, Venus sends her son, the god of love, whose flattery and cajoling have the desired effect upon Telemachus. Meanwhile, Mentor, seated at right accompanied by his attribute the owl (for he is Minerva, goddess of wisdom, in human form), looks on with disdain.

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