The Sorrow of Telemachus

Kauffmann's Sorrow of Telemachus from 1783 illustrates a scene from Fénelon's Télémaque — the eighteenth century's most widely read neo-classical narrative, which followed Odysseus's son through a series of adventures designed to illustrate virtues of governance. Kauffmann was one of the premier history painters of her era, her combination of classical subjects with Neoclassical formal principles making her a central figure in the international movement that Winckelmann's writings had launched. Her Telemachus subjects — she painted several — reflected the period's enthusiasm for the novel as a vehicle for classical education and moral philosophy.

Kauffmann's oil on canvas demonstrates her refined neoclassical style with soft, warm color, graceful figure arrangement, and the classical drapery and setting that characterize her history paintings.