Penelope Unraveling Her Web
1783–1784
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 106 × 131.4 cm
- Status
- In Museum Collection
- Collect24 Art ID
- C24-135311
The potter Josiah Wedgwood commissioned this painting from Joseph Wright of Derby as a tribute to female loyalty and industry. In Homer's *Odyssey,* Penelope, awaiting the return of her husband Odysseus from the Trojan War, was beset by suitors who claimed that Odysseus had been shipwrecked. She promised to marry one of them after she completed a shroud for her father-in-law. Steadfastly loyal to her absent husband, Penelope unraveled her weaving at the end of each day to avoid remarrying. Wright presented Penelope late at night, rewinding her thread into a ball. In the foreground, the backlit statue of Odysseus invokes his presence. Moonlight bathes the sleeping figure of their son Telemachus while Penelope looks on. The strong effect of light and dark contributes to the hushed atmosphere and increases the drama of Penelope's plight.
Provenance
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
Registry history
- 1783–1784 — Recorded in the collection of J. Paul Getty Museum
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