The Farewell of Telemachus and Eucharis
1818
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 88.3 × 103.2 cm
- Status
- In Museum Collection
- Collect24 Art ID
- C24-136461
Fixing the viewer with a dreamy gaze, the fair-haired Telemachus grasps Eucharis's thigh with his right hand while holding his spear upright with the other. In the 1699 French novel *Les Aventures de Télémaque*, loosely based on characters from the *Odyssey*, the author Fénelon describes how Telemachus, the son of Odysseus, fell passionately in love with the beautiful nymph Eucharis. His duty as a son, however, required that he end their romance and depart in search of his missing father. The ill-fated lovers say farewell in a grotto on Calypso's island. Facing towards us, Telemachus's blue tunic falls open to reveal his naked torso. Eucharis, seen in profile, encircles Telemachus's neck and gently rests her head upon his shoulder in resignation. In this way, Jacques-Louis David contrasts masculine rectitude with female emotion. David painted *The Farewell of Telemachus and Eucharis* during his exile in Brussels. The use of saturated reds and blues contrasted with flesh tones and combined with a clarity of line and form typifies the Neoclassical style, which is characteristic of David's late history paintings.
Provenance
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
Registry history
- 1818 — Recorded in the collection of J. Paul Getty Museum
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