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Cupid Advises Calypso to Set Fire to Mentor’s Ship, from The Adventures of Telemachus, Book 7

A work made of pen and black ink, with brush and brown and gray wash, over traces of black chalk on ivory laid paper, laid down on board.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of pen and black ink, with brush and brown and gray wash, over traces of black chalk on ivory laid paper, laid down on board.

Date:

1808

Artist:

Bartolomeo Pinelli
Italian, 1781-1835

About this artwork

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 prevent Telemachus from leaving, Calypso’s nymphs burn the ship that Mentor had constructed. Though Telemachus is secretly gladdened by this, Mentor pushes him off a cliff into the sea, where they swim to another ship to escape.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Prints and Drawings

Artist

Bartolomeo Pinelli

Title

Cupid Advises Calypso to Set Fire to Mentor’s Ship, from The Adventures of Telemachus, Book 7

Place

Italy (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

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

Dimensions

Sight: 45.6 × 58 cm (18 × 22 7/8 in.); Overall: 55.8 × 66.5 cm (22 × 26 3/16 in.)

Credit Line

Wirt D. Walker Fund

Reference Number

1963.568

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/17994/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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