Telemachus is Consoled by Termosiris, Priest of Apollo, from The Adventures of Telemachus, Book 2
Medium
Pen and black ink, with brush and gray and brown wash, over black chalk on ivory laid paper, laid down on board
Dimensions
47.6 × 59 cm (18 3/4 × 23 1/4 in.)
Classification
watercolor
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
17981
Art Historical Context
Bartolomeo Pinelli’s 1808 drawing captures a poignant moment from François Fénelon’s influential novel *The Adventures of Telemachus* (1699), a moral and political tale that reimagines the son of Odysseus from Homer’s *Odyssey*. In this scene, the young Telemachus receives consolation from Termosiris, a priest of Apollo, highlighting themes of guidance, loss, and wisdom that resonated deeply with 18th- and 19th-century readers. Pinelli, an Italian artist celebrated for his neoclassical illustrations of classical literature and daily life, brings emotional depth to the encounter through express...
About the Artist
Bartolomeo Pinelli · 1781–1835
Bartolomeo Pinelli (1781–1835) was an Italian artist and printmaker who became one of the most popular and prolific chroniclers of Roman popular life in the early nineteenth century. Born in Rome, he trained at the Accademia di San Luca and demonstrated precocious talent in drawing and sculpture, though it was as an engraver and illustrator that he found his true vocation and his widest audience. ...