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The Sorrow of Telemachus

The Sorrow of Telemachus is an oil painting by the Swiss artist Angelica Kauffman, from 1783. It is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York.

Early history and creation

This painting and Telemachus and the Nymphs of Calypso were painted for Monsignor . They show scenes from the French novel The Adventures of Telemachus published by François Fénelon in 1699, and based on the story of Telemachus, son of Odysseus.

Description and interpretation

Telemachus was shipwrecked off Calypso's island, and in this image she tells her nymphs to stop singing Odysseus's praises because of his son's grief.

Other versions

Kauffman painted two other versions of this work: in 1788 (held by the in Chur, Switzerland, and in 1789 (sold by Christie's in London in April 1998).

See also

References