The Farewell of Telemachus and Eucharis
The Farewell of Telemachus and Eucharis c1818 by French Painter Jacques-Louis David (1748 – 1825); considered to be the preeminent painter of the Neoclassical style.
This painting depicts the characters Telemachus and Eucharis from the c1699 novel Les Aventures de Télémaque by the French Archbishop of Combrai François de Salignac de la Mothe-Fénelon (1651 – 1715); which were inspired by Homer’s Odeyssey.
In Greek mythology Telemachus is the son of Odysseus and Penelope; while Eucharis who is not part of Greek mythology is one of the nymph Calypso’s attendants in Fénelon’s novel Les Aventures de Télémaque c1699.
In the painting Eucharis who is wearing a reddish gold accent dress with a gold accent emerald green sash around her waist, a gold band around her hair and a brass cylinder with the artist last name David on it.
She is embracing Telemachus; who is partially clothed with a blue robe with gold crown accents along its perimeter and has a white band with gold circles wrapped around his head.
He also has a cord tied across his chest from which a brass horn is hanging from his right side with the date of the work and the letters BRVX engraved on it, as he rest his right hand on the left thigh of Eucharis; while holding a metal tipped spear in his left hand with his white dog looking up at him from between the spear and his left arm.
The Farewell of Telemachus and Eucharis is a remastered digital art old masters reproduction of a public domain image that is available as a canvas print online.
Information Below Derived from Wikipedia.org
Jacques was born in Paris, France on August 30, 1748 and at the age of 9 was sent to live with his uncles who architects, by is mother; after his father was killed in a duel.
His uncles saw to it that he received a first class education by sending him to the Collège des Quatre-Nations, University of Paris; but he found it difficult and never reached the level of other students that attended the school, and was more preoccupied with drawing.
Though his uncles and mother wanted Jacques to become an architect, he instead wanted to become a painter and was able to convince them in his course of action; which led him to study with the leading Rococo painter of the time François Boucher (1703 – 1770); who also happened to be a distant relative.
But has the taste of the Rococo style was transitioning to a more Classical style, Boucher sent him to study with his friend Joseph-Marie Vien (1716 – 1809); where he studied at the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture.
The academy held an annual competition, which awarded the winning student the prestigious Prix de Rome; which allowed students to stay in Rome for a period of 3 to 5 years funding their expensive as they studied the great works of the classical masters.
Though on his first three attempts Jacques failed to win, on his fourth attempt he took the prize with his painting Erasistratus Discovering the Cause of Antiochus’ Disease, and in 1775 journed to Italy with his mentor Joseph-Marie Vien, who had just been appointed director of the French Academy at Rome.
