Telemachus Returning to Penelope

Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. sought out superb large-scale figurative works for his public museum collection and happily included works by women artists in several different areas. Angelica Kauffman was one of the most celebrated, accomplished, and successful artists of her day. Born in Switzerland, she moved to Rome and then London, and was devoted to subjects from Greek poetry and mythology in a neoclassical style of painting. She chose subjects, however, that reflected a woman’s point of view. Here she shows Penelope welcoming her young son Telemachus home from his long yet ultimately successful journey in search of his father, Odysseus.